An Illuminating and entertaining must read

JAMES Comey served as director of the FBI from 2013 to 2017, appointed by former president Barack Obama. He was fired by President Donald Trump in May 2017.

“It wouldn't be long before Trump came for the entire Justice Department, which was trying to understand why all the lying, why all the links between people around Trump and Russia.

“The attacks on justice and its values had just begun. It would go on for years, doing grievous damage to an indispensable American institution.”

In his book, Saving Justice, Comey unpacks issues of truth and fairness in the American justice system.

The book's cover and the description of what the book is about might portend a rather heavy and dry read; Saving Justice is anything but that.

Comey, using cases he has worked on, clearly and appealingly illustrates issues on which justice and fairness are constituted. The cases he narrates include prosecuting Mafia mobsters while he worked as assistant US attorney in New York, dealing with the legalities of antiterrorism work, and of course lessons from his time at the head of the FBI.

The book ends with constructive suggestions on what he believes is necessary to restore the integrity and credibility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the justice system.

“A good start would be a clean break with the FBI's past – and a signal to all of American law enforcement – by removing J Edgar Hoover's name from the headquarters building and naming it in honour of civil rights icon John Lewis.”

Saving Justice is an illuminating and entertaining read, and its advice should be absorbed by those in power in the US.