Rumpole of the Bailey (book series) collection "Rumpole's Last Case" Contains all seven short stories in the 1988 collection "Rumpole and the Age of Miracles"; all six short stories in the 1990 collection "Rumpole à la Carte" and all six short stories in the 1995 collection "Rumpole and the Angel of Death" Contains seven Rumpole stories personally selected as favourites by John Mortimer. Contains a total of fourteen Rumpole stories, The seven stories that were personally selected as favourites by John Mortimer in the 1993 anthology "The Best of Rumpole: A Personal Choice". Plus the following seven stories selected from the short stories published in the
Rumpole of the Bailey trailing down his waistcoat and faded barrister's wig, "bought second hand from a former Chief Justice of Tonga" (or the Windward Islands: Rumpole is occasionally an unreliable narrator). Despite his affection for the criminal classes, Rumpole's character is marked by a firm set of ethics. He is a staunch believer in the presumption of innocence, the "Golden Thread of British Justice". He often reinforces this by proclaiming that it is better for 10 guilty men to go free than for one innocent to be convicted (basically Blackstone's formulation). Accordingly, Rumpole's credo is "I never plead guilty", although he has qualified