100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Enjoy overnight NZ-wide delivery from our NZ-owned independent bookstore! 🎉

The Best Defense

The Courtroom Confrontations of America's Most Outspoken Lawyer of Last Resort-- the Lawyer Who Won the Claus von Bulow Appeal
4.03 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 241 ratings, 13 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Best Defense by Alan Dershowitz is an engaging narrative that blends legal drama with thought-provoking insights. The story delves into the intricacies of the American legal system, exploring the tension between ethics and justice. Through the eyes of a charismatic defence attorney, the book offers a compelling look at courtroom strategies, moral dilemmas, and the pursuit of truth in high-stakes legal battles.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$6100

International Supplier

This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.

AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 2-3 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate a gripping exploration of the legal defence world, infused with the wit and experience of a renowned legal mind. This intriguing narrative dives into courtroom drama and ethical dilemmas, appealing to anyone intrigued by the complexities of the justice system.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

"Anyone interested in the true merits of criminal law and very fine writing must read Alan Dershowitz's book."

--Truman Capote

In this tell-all legal memoir, Alan Dershowitz describes his most famous, and infamous, cases and clients. In the process, he takes a critical, informed look at a legal system that he regards as deeply corrupt.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780394713809

Publisher: Random House USA Inc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 12 May 1983

Country: United States

Imprint: Vintage Books

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 27.0mm

Width: 131.0mm

Height: 202.0mm

Weight: 495g

Pages: 464

About the Author

Alan M. Dershowitz is theNew York Timesbest-selling author of more than thirty books. His articles have appeared in hundreds of publications, includingThe New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Harvard Law Review, The Yale Law Journal, The Jerusalem Post,andHaaretz.He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard Law School, and has worked for more than fifty years in the areas of civil liberties, human rights, and criminal law. Honors he has received include the Anti-Defamation League's William O. Douglas First Amendment Freedom Award.

Also by Alan Dershowitz

View all
  • Letters to a Young Lawyer
    As defender of both the righteous and the questionable, Alan Dershowitz has become perhaps the most famous and outspoken attorney in the land. Whether or not they agree with his legal tactics, most people would agree that he possesses a powerful and profound sense of justice. In this meditation on his profession, Dershowitz writes about life, law, and the opportunities...
    Paperback
    $5100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Palestinianism
    Palestinianism is not only the newest manifestation of anti-Semitism; it also poses grave threats to peace, human rights, and democratic values. Its dangers must be exposed and challenged in the marketplace of ideas. It is the purpose of this book to pose that challenge and to put Palestinianism on trial for the moral crimes of bigotry, incitement to violence, and...
    Paperback
    $3500
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • The Preventative State
    You shall thank Alan Dershowitz for writing this [valuable] book. - Stephen Breyer, Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court If reliable but uncertain intelligence predicted a mass casualty terrorist attack and indicated likely suspects, what preventive actions would be constitutionally authorized? Detention? Interrogation? Torture? What if the attack involved a weaponized virus? Should the government compel widespread inoculation that...
    Hardback
    $7100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Case Against the New Censorship
    In The Case Against the New Censorship: Protecting Free Speech from Big Tech, Progressives, and Universities, Alan Dershowitz—New York Times bestselling author and one of America's most respected legal scholars—analyses the current regressive war against freedom of speech being waged by well-meaning but dangerous censors and proposes steps that can be taken to defend, reclaim, and strengthen freedom of speech...
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • The Price of Principle
    In his fiftieth book, The Price of Principle: Why Integrity Is Worth the Consequences, Alan Dershowitz—#1 New York Times bestselling author and one of America's most influential legal scholars—explores the implications of the increasing tendency in politics, academia, media, and even the courts of law to punish principle and reward partisan hypocrisy. Alan Dershowitz has been called "one of the...
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • Get Trump
    In Get Trump: The Threat to Civil Liberties, Due Process, and Our Constitutional Rule of Law, Alan Dershowitz—#1 New York Times bestselling author and one of America's most respected legal scholars—analyses the unremitting efforts by political opponents of Donald Trump to "get" him—to stop him from running in 2024—at any cost. Alan Dershowitz has been called "one of the most...
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • The Case for Color-Blind Equality in an Age of Identity Politics
    In The Case for Color-Blind Equality in an Age of Identity Politics, Alan Dershowitz—New York Times bestselling author and one of America's most respected legal scholars—analyses the current battles over issues of diversity and our rapidly changing ideas about what true diversity is. Alan Dershowitz has been called "one of the most prominent and consistent defenders of civil liberties in...
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • War Against the Jews
    In War Against the Jews: How to End Hamas Barbarism, Alan Dershowitz—#1 New York Times bestselling author and one of America's most respected legal scholars—explains why the horrific attack of October 7 and Israel's just response changes everything. It has changed the relationship between Israel and the United States, especially with regard to the possibility of direct American intervention. It...
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • War on Woke
    In War on Woke: Why the New McCarthyism Is More Dangerous Than the Old, Alan Dershowitz—#1 New York Times bestselling author and one of America's most respected legal scholars—warns of the danger to the future of civil liberties and equality in America. Alan Dershowitz has been called "one of the most prominent and consistent defenders of civil liberties in America"...
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • The Ten Big Anti-Israel Lies
    The goal of The Ten Big Anti-Israel Lies: And How to Refute Them with Truth is to contribute to the marketplace of ideas by offering truthful and well-documented facts that disprove the defamatory fictions—the big lies—that are pervasive in the current protests against Israel. The book's intended audiences are open-minded students and others who seek to hear fact-based information on...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Case for Liberalism in an Age of Extremism
    "Maybe the question isn't what happened to Alan Dershowitz. Maybe it's what happened to everyone else."--Politico In The Case for Liberalism in an Age of Extremism, Alan Dershowitz—New York Times bestselling author and one of America's most respected legal scholars—makes a classical liberal argument for centrist government in the US, as the Founding Fathers and the Constitution intended. Alan Dershowitz...
    Hardback
    Sold Out

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Red Rising
    The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Score
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Golden Son
    ENDER'S GAME meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this, the second in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.'I'm still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.' Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope....
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • East of Eden
    Set against the backdrop of the fertile Salinas Valley in California, East of Eden is a profound and compelling novel by John Steinbeck, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. This masterful narrative charts the intertwining destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—across multiple generations. Steinbeck's intricate portrayal of human nature and enduring exploration of moral themes...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.