Hostettler was born in Central Middlesex Hospital and grew up in Acton, West London, with a younger sister Doreen.
He also undertook political and civil liberties cases in Nigeria, Germany and Aden, and played a key role in the abolition of flogging in colonial prisons following a visit to the latter in 1962.
[5][6] Hostettler has written twenty five books on legal history; current issues such as breaches of the rule of law and trial by jury; and biographies.
His literary career began in 1992 when he transformed his first PhD thesis into the book, "The Politics of Criminal Law Reform in the Nineteenth Century.
)[13] and he was nominated for the Orwell Prize in 2013 for “Dissenters, Radicals, Heretics and Blasphemers.” [14] Hostettler has also written articles for The Anglo-American Law Review, Justice of the Peace and The Legal Executive.