Charlie Chaplin, the silent screen’s “Little Tramp” was beloved by millions of movie fans until he starred in a series of salacious, real-life federal courtroom dramas. The 1944 trial was described by ace New York Daily reporter Florabel Muir as “the best show in town.” The leading lady was a woman under contract to his studio—red-haired ingénue Joan Barry, Chaplin’s protégée and former mistress. When Charlie Met Joan: The Tragedy of the Chaplin Trials and the Failings of American Law is a deep dive into the series of trials involving silent film star Charlie Chaplin and a young actress that contributed to his being barred from the United States for twenty years.

A frequent legal contributor to CNN and MSNBC, Diane Kiesel is a retired judge of the New York Supreme Court who spent nearly 25 years presiding over criminal cases. Her reporting has earned the prestigious Worth Bingham Prize for distinguished investigative reporting and her first biography, She Can Bring Us Home: Dr. Dorothy Boulding Ferebee; Civil Rights Pioneer,earned the 2015 Richard Slatten Award for Excellence in Virginia Biography and the 2016 Colonial Dames of America Book Award. She is also the author of several editions of a textbook, Domestic Violence: Law, Policy and Practice, used in law school classrooms around the country.