Horace Rumpole - witty, eloquent, dishevelled and cynical - is one of fiction's best-loved barristers-at-law. In these twenty classic tales, Rumpole battles through the Old Bailey, whether defending various members of an incompetent South London crime family, taking on haute-cuisine chefs and showfolk or mocking the pomposity of his own profession, all the while being held in check by his wife, Hilda: the wonderful, fearsome She Who Must Be Obeyed.These collected stories, in Pengui...

Paradise Postponed - John Mortimer's classic novel, now part of the Penguin Decades seriesPenguin Decades bring you the novels that helped shape modern Britain. When they were published, some were bestsellers, some were considered scandalous, and others were simply misunderstood. All represent their time and helped define their generation, while today each is considered a landmark work of storytelling.John Mortimer's Paradise Postponed was first p...

Rumpole defends Charles Hearthstoke against charges of keeping bawdy houses, in the form of his chain of massage parlors. The case has become quite a scandal since many customers were prominent members of the community and to Rumpole's astonishment, paid with credit cards. Guthrie Featherstone, who sought a massage for an injury now thinks that may be identified as one of the patrons and Rumpole cunningly arranges for him to preside at Hearthstoke's trial.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays the young Horace Rumpole in this second stellar collection of court cases, also starring Timothy West as the older RumpoleRumpole and the Man of GodIt is 1959, and Rumpole must defend a clergyman accused of shoplifting who, although he clearly did not commit the crime, is curiously reluctant to be cross-examined under oath. Meanwhile, Hilda (she who must be obeyed) has big news…Rumpole and the Explo...

A CLASSIC COLLECTION OF JOHN MORTIMER'S ICONIC CHARACTER, DISCOVER THE FIRST RUMPOLE OMNIBUS!'One of the great comic creations of modern times' Evening Standard'Rumpole, like Jeeves and Sherlock Holmes, is immortal' P. D. James, Mail on SundayWho rose to enduring fame on Blood and Typewriters?Who told the pregnant Portia of the Chambers it would come out in the end?Who advise...

Horace Rumpole - cigar-smoking, claret-drinking, Wordsworth-spouting defender of some unlikely clients - often speaks of the great murder trial which revealed his talents as an advocate and made his reputation down at the Bailey when he was still a young man. Now, for the first time, the sensational story of the Penge Bungalow Murders case is told in full: how, shortly after the war, Rumpole took on the seemingly impossible task of defending young Simon Jerold, accused of murdering his fat...

Following the bestselling SUMMER OF A DORMOUSE, Sir John Mortimer - playwright, novelist, octogenarian and erstwhile QC - offers up more wickedly funny lessons in living and growing old disgracefully. What would we like to leave to our descendants? Not a third-rate painting or our PEPS, according to Sir John, but a love of Shakespeare, a taste for alcohol, the ability to defeat boredom, the importance of never locking the lavatory door, and so on. Owing something to Montaigne's essays, som...

Maurice Denham stars as John Mortimer's famous comic creation Rumpole of the Bailey.Defender of the underdog, friend of South London villains and scourge of QCs, much-loved barrister Horace Rumpole was first brought to life on television, and in 1980 BBC Radio 4 introduced him to the airwaves for a 13-episode series.In these delightful full-cast courtroom dramas, the claret-drinking, poetry-quoting lawyer recalls his colourful career at the Old Bailey, while being supported...

Desmond Barrit stars as Horace Rumpole in this full-cast, feature-length radio dramaRumpole has no special objection to Christmas - except that with the Old Bailey closed, he has no opportunity to exercise his skills in court. But over the course of one unusual holiday, he nonetheless manages to triumph in two very different cases...Dragooned into spending Christmas in Norfolk, at the home of one of Hilda's old schoolfriends, Rumpole is feeling less than fe...

Rumpole again defends a member of the Timson clan on a charge of possession of stolen goods, namely, he is caught with a garage full of expensive wine. Rumpole is concerned that Timson's explanation that he purchased the wine from some unknown individual he met in a pub, will not go down well with Mr. Justice Graves, who has heard these stories many times before.

Our Horace Rumpole, the most traditional of traditionalists, defends a hippie-like school teacher on a drugs charge. Quite unexpectedly, he finds himself attracted to her and to her unusual lifestyle.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays the young, feisty, devastatingly acute Horace Rumpole in this collection of cracking cases, also starring Timothy West as the older Rumpole.Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders:It is the fifties, and two war heroes have been shot dead. Defending the suspect is deemed hopeless, so the case is handed to a novice. But the novice's superiors didn't count on the tenacity and wit of the young and hungry Horace...