The book includes Proinsias de Rossa's action against Eamon Dunphy and the Sunday Independent, which required three trials to reach a final verdict; Beverley Cooper-Flynn's unsuccessful action against RTE, which left her with millions to pay in costs; the failed action of Slab Murphy against The Sunday Times; and Albert Reynolds's famous 1996 case that went all the way to the House of Lords and incurred costs of over a million pounds. Recounted also is P.J. McGrory's 1988 victory against Today, the Sunday Express and the Star newspapers.
There are celebrities here: the jockey Kieren Fallon, Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson. And in every case recounted, public reputations were on the line not to mention dizzying sums of money. It's this combination that gives libel its theatrical quality and that makes A.J. Davidson's book such a riveting read.
