by Lawrence M. Friedman
|
| List Price: | $25.00 |
| Amazon Price: | $17.75 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
| You Save: | $7.25 (29%) |
| Average Rating: |  |
| Lowest New Price: | $9.90 |
| Availablitiy: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
 |
|
Product Description
In this brilliant and immensely readable book, Lawrence M. Friedman tells the whole fascinating story of American law from its beginnings in the colonies to the present day. By showing how close the life of the law is to the economic and political life of the country, he makes a complex subject understandable and engrossing. A History of American Law presents the achievements and failures of the American legal system in the context of America's commercial and working world, family practices, and attitudes toward property, government, crime, and justice.Now completely revised and updated, this groundbreaking work incorporates new material regarding slavery, criminal justice, and twentieth-century law. For laymen and students alike, this remains the only comprehensive authoritative history of American law.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Great if you're a history buff, 2008-07-25
I read the book before I entered law school in order to get a general understanding of the history of American law. Professor Friedman's comprehensive work is of little use to law students (or anyone entering law school) looking for a practical guide to the study and practice of law. Frankly, you can get through law school just fine without ever picking up this book.
That said, you would be doing youself a great disservice. Friedman's work is so comprehensive (covering over 400 years of American law, from the importation of the English legal system during the colonial period to late 20th-century corporate law) that it would be impossible for anyone to read this book and not come out with a better understanding of *WHY* our legal system is the way it is today.
Besides, Friedman's engaging narrative style makes for fun reading. "A History of American Law" and Chemerisnky's "Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies" should be required reading for anyone who has the least bit of interest in the American legal system.
0 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
 Seen as text, 2007-10-09
First review written more like the words i wish i could write, providing too much school and being taught lesser is what i got out of the faulty structure. forgot what i was going to typewr. -we
2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Outstanding, 2006-11-24
I had to treat this book like a text book. Read a little here and there. Thoroughly researched, it provides the reader with a detailed history of American law. This book is a keeper.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
History - To The EXTREME, 2006-02-06
My first reaction after finishing the book, was to ask myself how anyone could have enough time to put so much information together. As the cover states, this "book touches every conceivable aspect of law...it is a stupendous achievement." The author takes an insurmountable task and first breaks it up into four sections, Part 1: American Law in the colonial Period, Part 2: Revolution to the Middle of the 19th century, Part 3: Close of the 19th century, Part 4: The 20th century. Within each part he segments chapters into readable legal topics. (i.e. Corporations, Crime and Punishment, etc). In that way, the reader gets an understanding of the period and how it effects all sorts of law, before going onto another time period and seeing how other areas of the law grew and affected other areas.
Although the republic split from England, the author reviews how attached the our legal system continued to be and all the reasons why this was so. (All the legal treatises and cases were only printed about English law for quite some time). He also discusses why certain areas of the law, nonetheless, quickly grew away. (i.e. the are lots of navigable seaways in America, not so many in England). This is just a small sampling of a tremendous source of information.
The study of law present a tremendous number of apparent inconsistencies, non-sequitors, and just beyond the reasonable conundrums. The author tremendous dedication to this work really sorts out these issues buy showing the development and goals through the history of the Union. (And why the Socratic method is everywhere, much to the consternations of L1s everywhere)
Of course such a treaties requires a good effort to read, assimilate, and remember. Should you decide to read it in a bar on say, a lunch break, you get lots of curious questions, puzzled looks, and few invitations to dates, so be warned. Nonetheless, highly recommended for the all the people in this country that are interested in US history and legal history; yes, I recommend it to both of us.
0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
readable and worthwhile, 2005-08-21
If this edition is at all like the 2nd edition (what I am inferring from) then it will be a very readable history of American law up to 1900. It's something of a social history given the wealth of information on how law affected the family, the early commerce of the Republic, and industrial growth (and suffering it caused, see the chapter on torts). It is something of a social history. The early chapters on colonial law are a bit tough but are worth comparing to the changes that would follow. If you're at all interested in the law and how U.S. society evolved (and did harm, at times) this book and its sequel, American Law in the 20th Century, is very much worthwhile.
Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.
|
Store Categories
|