Five Ideas to Fight For: How Our Freedom is Under Threat and Why it Matters by Anthony Lester

 Five Ideas to Fight For: How Our Freedom is Under Threat and Why it Matters by Anthony Lester looks at five important ideas related to the law, and more particularly, public law and the constitution. These ideas include Human Rights, Equality, Free Speech, Privacy and The Rule of Law. Lester explains each one of these ideas, as well as the relevant history behind each idea, and a number of examples are used throughout to illustrate his points. Lester has also looked at the reform of the five areas.

I liked this book as it was holistic, covering the history of these five important ideas, cases of where they have been abused and how the law has moved along. It is written in an interesting manner which makes it relevant to everyday life and a greater number of people. This makes it a great book for law students who are studying constitutional law. 

However, there are a few things which I was not overly keen on in this book. In some areas, the language seemed a bit complicated and went slightly off-subject, which may cause the reader to lose their interest. The chapters were also very long, and in most cases, these extended chapters were not necessary. Having said that, it was nice to be able to read a book with only five chapters. As well as this, to make it an even better book in general, but particularly for those studying constitutional law, it would have been nice to see more key constitutional ideas presented in this book, such as the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. Other than that, the only other thing to be said about this book is that it is rather out of date for the reader at the end of 2023, going into 2024. Since this book has been written, there have been so many political and legal changes and much more recent examples. This may therefore warrant a second edition of this book which will be greatly welcomed!

Altogether, I rate this book 2 stars as it was a good book which took the reader on a journey through constitutional and administrative law looking at a number of key and sometimes controversial topics with relevant case examples throughout. Whereas the Secret Barrister has been largely critical in criminal law, this seems to be somewhat the alternative for public law, and I would greatly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in law or politics. I would go further and say this is a must-read to all law students who are currently studying constitutional and administrative law, or public law as it is sometimes referred.