Bryan and his company Waterside Press have developed a formidable reputation as one of Britain’s top publishers on criminal justice issues. The rediscovery of the importance of the Eighteenth century barrister Sir William Garrow owes a lot to Bryan who published John Hostettler and Richard Braby’s book about Garrow, Sir William Garrow: His Life, Times and Fight for Justice.
The television programme is faction, but it has brought Garrow’s name to a wider audience. Garrow is a very important figure in British legal history and to us. His advocacy helped to change the dynamic between judge and jury, leading to the presumption of innocence. His new book Garrow’s Law: The BBC Drama Revisited about Garrow’s life and work and the portrayal of him in the television series will be published soon by Bryan. Waterside has also published other books by Hostettler on the evolution of law, including on the contribution of Garrow’s great contemporary Thomas Erskine.
Bryan has also published books about prisons, the London Riots and many other topics related to criminal justice, including punishment, such as the death penalty and the comparatively new concept of restorative justice. Recently he has proved the last refuge in mainstream publishing of authors seeking to tell important stories about miscarriages of justice. Waterside published the third edition of George Skelly’s acclaimed book The Cameo Conspiracy, which dissected the appalling miscarriage of justice that blighted Charles Connolly’s life and robbed George Kelly of his. Skelly is also a supporter of The Fitted-In Project.
Waterside published Skelly’s new book on the controversial murder convictions of Alfred Burns and Edward Devlin, Murderers or Martyrs? last year
Waterside also published our CEO’s recent book The Cardiff Five: Innocent Beyond Any Doubt, introducing the concept of vindication to a wider audience. Bryan also worked with the former actress Fiona Fullerton to publish her book Dear Fiona, based on the letters that she shared with Alex Alexandrowicz. He was persuaded to confess in a case that Fullerton and others, including Edward FitzGerald QC are very concerned about. Fullerton’s book helps to publicise a forgotten case that many influential people believe is a major miscarriage of justice.
See http://www.watersidepress.co.uk/acatalog/Books.html for a full catalogue of the important work on criminal justice issues highlighted by Bryan through Waterside Press. Bryan supports the work of The Fitted-In Project.