Subjects:  1. Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice    2. Internal security    3. Law    4. Law and legislation    5. Legal History    6. Legal Reference / Law Profession    7. National security    8. Prevention    9. Terrorism    10. United States    11. History of specific subjects    12. Jurisprudence & General Issues    13. Non-Classifiable   

Reviews (2)

Useful but has some biased entries.....
This tome (*large* volume) contains much interesting and useful material but, unfortunately, a very few of its authors have an ideological axe to grind. A publication of this sort should be aimed at objectivity, and not be a forum for certain "contributors" to propagate their personal sociological/political agendas. American Law
I came by this book while actually looking for something else, and found it to be very informative and useful.Similar to other Oxford companions it is cross-referenced and attempts to be usable to both the legal community as well as ordinary people.Read more

Subjects:  1. Encyclopedias    2. Law    3. Legal History    4. Legal Reference / Law Profession    5. Legal System    6. United States    7. United States - General    8. Law / Legal History    9. Law | Legal History    10. Laws of Other Jurisdictions & General Law    11. Reference works    12. USA   

Reviews (4)

Nix On Hixson's Stories
Hixson has picked four murder cases as "highly revealing" as to "history, culture, and jurisprudence". He is mistaken in his judgments. What is the purpose of this book? Was it created as propaganda for the last case? A good history is based on reality, not the author's prejudices about "gender", "nativism", "class anxieties", or "racial injustice" (p.2). His arrogance is shown in his comments on page 3 regarding other's works. Hixson seems proud of not using footnotes, and points to his "critical bibliography".
Great book
I suggest anyone who loves crime to go out and buy this book. It gives you a good perspective of 4 great trials of american history.

Attempting to Revise History
The author is a professor of history who has written about four murder cases as a "scholarly inquiry".He claims the verdicts in all four cases were wrong!The author is wrong about Lizzie and OJ; the jury verdicts were correct.Read more

Subjects:  1. Case studies    2. Law    3. Legal History    4. Legal Reference / Law Profession    5. Murder    6. Murder - General    7. Murder victims    8. Murderers    9. Reference    10. United States   

Reviews (1)

True depth of research
Researched beyond all prior literature, this well written book ads sugnificant knowledge to our understanding.Historians and attornies will find this book fascinating. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Law    2. Legal History    3. Common law    4. England    5. English Law    6. Other prose: 16th to 18th centuries   

Reviews (17)

Beware the witchhunters!
It's a clich�, but I literally could not put this book down once I started it. It's beautifully written, the bare-bones facts fleshed out with details of the appearance and atmosphere of 17th-century Salem. The inexorable and horrifying progress of the witch hunt, which, once begun, became an unstoppable machine, fed by gossip, self-interest, and religious repression, is recounted in day-by-day detail, focusing on the characters of those involved on all sides. It sometimes shows its age--it was originally published in 1950--but very few books today show such mastery of style in historical writing. It was an influential book in its time, serving as source material for Arthur Miller in his play "The Crucible," which he wrote as a cautionary parable about the figurative witchhunting of the McCarthy era. It's a tale of a time and place when persons could be imprisoned without benefit of counsel for indefinite periods, when a word of protest could bring accusations of treason, when powerful, well-connected people could influence the course of justice, when the forces of religious and political intolerance walked abroad in the land. Does this sound familiar?

The Devil in a BORING story
I find the Salem witch trials to be very interesting and I love learning about them. After reading this book however, I am starting to become turned off by them. I am a woman and personally find woman writers to usually be enjoyable. This woman should go back to college or maybe even grade school and find out how to write. She uses complicated sentences that make no sense (you'll need a dictionary or another person to help you out with the meanings of some of her 20-word sentences). Do yourself a favor, pick a different book.

Very mind opening
I found Marion Starkey's presentation of the Salem Witch Trials very mind opening and thought provoking.She gives footnote and reference after reference proving that she was not just spouting this information off the top of her head, she gave a well researched and developed presentation of the materials she researched and I found that that is more than you can say about other books that have been written.She has gathered much evidence to support her positions on the Salem Witch Trials, that is someone who cares about her work. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to think for themselves and think outside the box. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History - General History    2. History - U.S.    3. Legal History    4. Massachusetts    5. Salem    6. Salem, Massachusetts    7. Trials (Witchcraft)    8. United States - Colonial Period    9. Witchcraft    10. Witchcraft & Wicca    11. History / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775)    12. Modern fiction   

Reviews (4)

What Laissez-Faire?
Laissez-Faire means live and let live.In this history by Morton Horwitz, we see that along with the rise of corporatism in America was the demise of laissez-faire through the interventionist hand of the state's judicial system:
Tough nut to crack, yes.But a brilliant work no less.
As one reviewer and the publisher had pointed out, the basic premise of the book is how the common law sought to accommodate the economic changes (and actually sought to allocate wealth) during the formative years of this republic. Some commentators have criticized this book as a Marxian dialectic attack of the American law--in particular from the Chicago School quarters. (Chicago Law Review published a very scathing review in the 70s with the aim, I suspect, to discredit Horwitz's argument)But I thought Professor Horwitz did a wonderful job in supporting his argument with citation and documentation.Is he a revisionst? Maybe.But he's more of an E.P. Thompson than a Howard Zinn.In any event, this book presents a very convincing argument despite its tendentiousness. reviews shouldn't say how hard a book is on the intellect
it should say how valuable the knowledge is.The lawyer who said the book is tough-going should be ignored as he addressed no content in the book.He only manipulated several people into not reading the book.What a way to manipulate people into remaining ignorant!Get it from ANY library, read one chapter, and pursue YOUR interest in our wretched government's tyranical tendency!If the 1st chapter hits, buy the book anywhere you want and study it!Be free! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Law    3. Legal History    4. Legal Reference / Law Profession    5. Legal System    6. United States - General    7. Jurisprudence & General Issues    8. Law / General   

Editorial Review

Prior to 1906, the U.S. Supreme Court had never tried a criminal case--and the high court had yet to assert its power over state criminal courts. That was all to change after the events of a cold January night earlier that year in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Blond, beautiful, 21-year-old Nevada Taylor had hopped on one of Chattanooga's new electric trolleys after work. Before she could reach home, the young woman was waylaid and raped by an unknown assailant. At first Taylor couldn't describe her attacker to town sheriff Joseph Shipp, as she hadn't seen the man clearly, but she soon became convinced he was "a Negro with a soft, kind voice." In just 17 days, a drifter dubbed a "Negro fiend" by the Read more

Reviews (20)

Must Read
For one interested in the history of federalism in this country, the book is a must read.The book can be enjoyed by both lawyers and lawmen.If you want to understand how and why the United States Supreme Court became involved in declaring state laws unconstitutional and the need for the Federal Courts to apply the United States Constitution to actions of local officials, this book will enable you to understand those reasons.A true story of unhearald courage by a very determined and brave attorney.

Excellent book
I ended up reading this book in a little over two days. I was quickly hooked by the fascinating and horrifying story of Ed Johnson, an indigent black man, unjustly accused and convicted by an all-white judicial system that was very typical of the south at the turn of the century. Mr. Johnson's second set of lawyers, two courageous black lawyers, from Chattanooga appeal to the US Supreme Court and set the stage for the most intriguing case to ever be heard before the court. Read the book!

Scary moments of our past
When Leroy Phillips, Jr. came to visit my school in Chattanooga, I was overwhelmed by the knowledge that something like this could have happened in my city.After his talk, I decided to read the book for myself.At first, I noticed that the authors took a lot of time to research the subject thoroughly, so much so that I think they know more about Chattanooga than I do, keeping in mind Leroy Phillips does live here.What also impressed me the most was the nonfiction story itself.The story is about a black man named Ed Johnson who was put on trial at first as a scapegoat.However, he eventually was a target for all anti-black aggressions.I mean, for me the 60's were scary, but the brutality and violence of the early 1900's, especially these incidents, are just terrifying.This book will show a detailed look at Chattanooga's past; it will show some historically fascinating law and court decisions, and it will just be an amazing read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chattanooga    2. Contempt of court    3. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    4. General    5. History    6. Law    7. Legal History    8. Legal Reference / Law Profession    9. Lynching    10. Tennessee    11. United States    12. United States - 19th Century/Turn of the Century    13. Law / General   

Reviews (3)

Not a sleeping pill
Burnhams book on U.S. law and its legal system is great for anyone who wants to learn or study U.S. law. It is comprehensive in that it provides the basics on the most important parts of substantive and procedural law. For foreign law students and jurists in particular it gives a well written and very understandable introduction into U.S. law. Professor Burnham seems to intentionally adress "foreigners" in certain sections explaining the similarities, but also the existing differences between the common law system and the civil law system (as he defines the central European legal system). This makes many topics easier to understand for outsiders. The in depth explanation of the adversary system and its implications for some U.S. particularities is also valuable, as are the guidelines for legal reserch.
Comprehensive!
I have used the Burnham book for five years in my Introduction to American Law class of foreign LL.M students.This is the only book I have found that gives such a comprehensive introduction to American law.It providesan excellent survey.It is at once complete enough to use alone for acourse, and at the same time useful as a foundation for special explorationof specific areas of interest.

Review of Intro to the Law and Legal System of the US 1999
I have recommended this book to every one of my colleagues who has taught the American legal system course in our London programe.When I heard of the publication of the second edition, I immediately asked my Westrepresentative to favor me with a desk copy. The task of finding materialssuitable for lawyers pursuing a comparative master's degree at Notre Damebedeviled me for several years.Almost every introductory text on theAmerican legal system seemed to offer a basic understanding of Americanhistory in general and Constitutional history in particular.Books thattreated fundamentals of the adversary system, or that described the legalprofession or the judicial system, often contained little if any expositionof substantive areas of the law.Materials that described substantivelegal areas often anticipated an understanding of the institutional regimethat applied the law.The day Burnham's Introduction to the Law and LegalSystem of the United States crossed my desk was bright indeed.As Iscanned the table of contents, I was struck at how it tracked the syllabusof the course I was preparing to teach.Its coverage of legal institutionswas complete in five chapters.The basics of criminal and civil procedurewere available, and eight additional chapters, each treating a legalsubject area, were offered.Professor Burnham imaginatively arranged thematerial to facilitate coverage via a survey or in much greater depthresponding to the background of the students or the amount of timeavailable for the course.The book has now been used on several occasions. The students and I have found it to be a strong asset in learning aboutthe American legal system.The book also serves as a marvelous inexpensiveresource for foreign students to carry home with them. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Law    2. Legal History    3. Legal System    4. Politics - Current Events    5. United States    6. History of specific subjects   

Reviews (2)

A great introduction to Roman law
A read this book as a student, and I found it an easy guide to the world of Roman law. Though today's legal systems share a common heritage from Roman law, the latter is still an alien system for lawyers today. It is thus not an easy task to present this exotic legal system and society as easy as Nicholas does in this book.

Nicholas - Roman Law
When I was a student at Oxford I specialised in Roman law. The tutorial system was very good at providing education in detail but bad at giving the wider picture. I survived on Nicholas to keep my sanity. Other writers deal with the subject in greater depth (von Lubtow, Daube, Jolovicz, Schulz etc)but he does a unique job, so far as Iam aware, in producing acomprehensible overall map. I reccomend it highly to anyone interested inRoman law. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient - Rome    2. Government - Comparative    3. History    4. History: World    5. Law    6. Legal History    7. Legal Reference / Law Profession    8. Ancient Rome    9. Classical Studies | Ancient History | Roman    10. History / Ancient / Rome    11. Roman law   

Subjects:  1. Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice    2. England    3. Foundations of law    4. General    5. History    6. History of specific subjects    7. Law    8. Legal History    9. Legal Reference / Law Profession    10. English Law    11. Law / Legal History    12. Law | Legal History   

Subjects:  1. General    2. International law (Islamic law)    3. Jihad    4. Law    5. Legal History    6. Legal Reference / Law Profession    7. War (Islamic law)   

Reviews (1)

A wonderful book. Very detailed but also lucid.
Two apsects strike me in reading about Holmes. First is his life. What a great subject. Holmes is almost as exciting to read about as Lincoln. The second is his jurisprudence. White does a fine job covering both. I likeWhite's style. Somewhat loose but never inaccurate, his biography is veryreadable.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1841-1935    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    6. Holmes, Oliver Wendell,    7. Judges    8. Lawyers & Judges    9. Legal History    10. Literary Criticism    11. United States    12. United States - General    13. Biography & Autobiography / Lawyers & Judges    14. Biography: general    15. Civil law (general works)    16. Jurisprudence & philosophy of law    17. Law | Legal History    18. USA   

Subjects:  1. 1933-1953    2. 20th century    3. Constitutional history    4. Courts - Supreme Court    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History: American    8. Legal History    9. Legal Reference / Law Profession    10. Medical    11. Politics and government    12. Psychiatry - General    13. Supreme Court    14. United States    15. United States - 20th Century    16. United States.    17. American history    18. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    19. History / United States / 20th Century    20. The Americas   

Reviews (1)

Turbulence in the Legal Academy
Each of Laura Kalman's preceding books to some extent has dealt with Yale Law School: the incisive "Legal Realism at Yale"; her definitive biography of Abe Fortas; and the awesome "Strange Career of Legal Liberalism."This new and very long volume focuses upon the turbulence that descended upon Yale in the late 1960's and early 1970's. For readers whose interest in the topic does not extend to reading a 474 page, highly detailed analysis, Kalman has written an essay with the book's major themes in the volume of essays edited by Dean Kronman, "History of the Yale Law School" (also reviewed by myself on Amazon).
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. History    3. Law    4. Legal Education    5. Legal History    6. Legal Reference / Law Profession    7. Study & Teaching    8. Study and teaching    9. United States    10. United States - 20th Century    11. Yale Law School    12. Connecticut    13. Higher & further education    14. Law / Legal Education    15. Laws of Other Jurisdictions & General Law    16. Yale Law School; legal education; meritocracy; liberalism; the left; the Warren Court; Vietnam War; antiwar movement; affirmative action; Black Panthers; feminism; counterculture; Legal Realism; legal liberalism; Legal Process; Law and Society; Critical Legal Studies; Law and Economics; Alexander Bickel; Robert Bork; Guido Calabresi; Kingman Brewster; Hillary Rodham Clinton; Bill Clinton; Clarence Thomas; Bobby Seale; Harvard Law School; Christopher Columbus Langdell   

Subjects:  1. Courts - General    2. Courts - Supreme Court    3. General    4. Law    5. Legal History    6. Legal Reference / Law Profession    7. U.S. Supreme Court    8. United States - 18th Century    9. United States - General    10. History / United States / General   

Reviews (9)

Mentality of Atrocity
I guess most people ask themselves at some time, how do rational, seemingly decent human beings come to the point of sanctioning, organising and then carrying out the systematic destruction of around 11 million people, (give or take), with 6 million of them being Jewish? It is a tough one, and it is even tougher to understand, should one even want to try understanding it.
Essential reading
This book is essential reading for those who have read much of the European theatre of World War II and even more particularly of the Hitler regime.The transcripts of the interrogations and the submitted writings of Albert Speer alone make this book a must read- if you have read enough on these subjects you will recognize the source material the historians have relied upon, including Kershaw's excellent two volume biography of Hitler.
Chilling, insightful
There has been much analysis of the deeds, motives and consequences of Germany's Nazis, some of it brilliant, some of it rubbish, much in between. But there is simply no substitute for their actual words.
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Subjects:  1. History    2. History - Military / War    3. International Relations - General    4. Legal History    5. Military    6. Military - General    7. Military - World War II    8. History / Military / World War II   

Reviews (1)

Hilter's plan to eliminate the mentally ill, too
CONFRONTING THE "GOOD DEATH": NAZI EUTHANASIA ON TRAIL, 1945-1953 narrows the focus to a campaign to eliminate the mentally ill which Hitler unleashed years before his famous final solution to annihilate European Jews. This campaign killed as many as 270,000 people and set a precedent for the mass murder of civilians, and Michael Bryant here analyzes the U.S. Government and West German judiciary's attempt to punish these killers after the war. Primary sources blends with in-depth research to outline the Nazi campaign against the mentally ill and the postwar search for justice: a recommended pick for college-level Holocaust collections.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Europe - Germany    3. Euthanasia    4. Germany    5. History    6. History - General History    7. Holocaust    8. Legal History    9. Military    10. Military - World War II    11. Nazi persecution    12. People with disabilities    13. Trials (Genocide)    14. Europe    15. Fascism & Nazism    16. The Holocaust   

Editorial Review

In the first hectic days of the American Civil War, the future of the Union was in doubt. Troops traveling to defend Washington were waylaid by mobs in Maryland. In the midst of this crisis, Abraham Lincoln sought to suspend the writ of habeas corpus to permit the military to detain those who were interfering with the prosecution of the war. When the Supreme Court limited his ability to do so, Lincoln complained that the Court was allowing "all the laws, but one, go unexecuted, and the government itself go to pieces, lest that one be violated." Eventually, civil liberties were curtailed for the duration of the Civil War--as they would be again in World Wars I and II.Read more

Reviews (15)

"A citizen is a person owing allegiance to some organized government, & not a person in an idealized 'state of nature...'"
"Without question the government's authority to engage in conduct that infringes civil liberty is greatest in time of DECLARED war" (emphasis added). But what exactly is meant by the notion of civil liberty? "It is not simply 'liberty' but CIVIL liberty of which we speak" (emphasis in Rehnquist's original)."The word 'civil', in turn, is derived from the Latin word 'civis', which means 'citizen.'A citizen is a person owing allegiance to some organized government, and not a person in an idealized 'state of nature' free from any governmental restraint." "This book,' Rehnquist states, is "limited to cases of declared war, together with the Civil War" (the equivalent of a declared war---and takes up 170 pages of this book; but excludes all others wherein Congress never specficially declared war, whether Congress authorized the use of force or not). Rehnquist: "There are marked differences between the government's conduct during the Civil War, during World War I, and during World War II. One of the main differences is that in the Civil War, the Lincoln administration relied on presidential authority or on the orders of military commanders to curtail civil liberties, while in the 20th century wars, the executive branch resorted much more to laws passed by Congress." Rehnquist concludes that "the President may do many things in carrying out a congressional directive that he may not be able to do on his own." But, regardless from the point of view of governmental authority under the Constitution "there remains a sense that there is some truth to the maxim 'Inter arma silent leges,' at least in the purely descriptive sense." "Inter arms silent leges" is latin for 'In the face of arms, the law falls mute,' or 'In time of war the laws are silent.' Hence "the reluctance of courts to decide a case against the government on an issue of national security during a war." Thus a main point of this work by William Rehnquist (written in 1998) is that a declaration of war makes even more of a difference during time of hostilities. (And it is why Tony Blankley in his book "The West's Last chance" has called for a declaration of war against Islamists.) "In any civilized society the most important task is achieving a proper balance between freedom and order. In wartime, reason and history both suggest that this balance shifts to some degree in favor of order---in favor of the government's ability to deal with conditions that threaten the national well-being. It simply cannot be said, therefore, that in every conflict between individual liberty and governmental authority the former should prevail" (Rehnquist's other main theme). As Lincoln asked in a message to a special session of Congress, July 4, 1861: "Are all the laws, but one, to go unexecuted, and the government itself to go to pieces, lest that one be violated?"In support of this view Rehnquist quotes Judge Learned Hand who opined that "A society in which men recognize no check upon their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only the savage few...."Cheers

Brilliant and prescient
Rehnquist wrote this before Sept 11, but it is a book that has added meaning today.Mostly the Chief Justice focuses on the suspecnsion of Habeas Corpus by ABraham Lincoln and its ramifications for Civil Liberties and the abuse of them during war time.This is not a lively account, but it is accurate, well thought out and makes for interesting reading, having added strength of authority by nature of its author.
An Informative Read
I rated this book at 4 stars, but probably would have given it 3.5 if I had that option.It is a good book -- better than average -- but is less than it could have been.
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Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. American    3. Civil Rights    4. Civil War, 1861-1865    5. Current Affairs    6. Habeas corpus    7. History    8. Law    9. Law and legislation    10. Legal History    11. Legal Reference / Law Profession    12. United States    13. United States - General    14. History / United States / General   

Subjects:  1. Fatwas    2. General    3. Interpretation and constructio    4. Interpretation and construction    5. Islam - General    6. Islam - Law    7. Islamic Law    8. Muftis (Muslim officials)    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Reference    11. Religion    12. Islam    13. Islamic countries    14. Islamic studies    15. Law / Legal History    16. Laws of Other Jurisdictions & General Law   

Subjects:  1. Campaign funds    2. Constitutional    3. Government - Judicial Branch    4. History    5. Law and legislation    6. Law reform    7. Legal History    8. Legal Reference / Law Profession    9. Political Process - Elections    10. Political Science    11. Politics/International Relations    12. United States    13. Political campaigning & advertising    14. USA