Overview

"Alan Watson argues that law fails to keep step with social change, even when that change is massive. To illustrate ways in which law is dysfunctional, he draws on the two most innovative Western systems, of Rome and England, to show that harmful rules continue for centuries. To make his case, he uses examples where, in the main, ""the law benefits no recognisable group or class within society (except possibly lawyers who benefit from confusion) and is generally inconvienient or positivly harmful to society as a whole or to large powerful groups within the society"". The author considers the development of law in global terms and across the centuries. His arguments centre on how societies borrow from other legal systems and the continuity of legal systems."

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9781566399197

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Reviews

"""[Watson] has a mastery of his sources, primary and secondary, and his work is of great importance for ancient and legal historians."" --Library Journal ""Alan Watson is a Roman legal historian of outstanding status, and anything he writes, particularly when it is as thoroughly researched, as well-argued and as comprehensively footnoted as [his] work is commands detailed attention from all Romanists, lawyers and historians irrespective of their instinctive feelings."" --The Irish Jurist ""Watson enjoys a well-founded reputation for scrupulous inquiry and authoritative publication on various aspects of the law in Rome of the late republic."" --Archeological News ""This book is fascinating and fun to read! Watson discusses the farcical nature of English criminal law until the late 19th century, and the puny attempts at law reform in general. His scholarship is impeccable, and his conclusions flow naturally from it. Watson has been recognized for his pathbreaking comparative law scholarship, and his books have come to be regarded as classics."" --Gary L. Francione, Professor of Law and Nicholas de B. Katzenbach Distinguished Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University Law School, Newark and author of Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog (Temple)"

Watson enjoys a well-founded reputation for scrupulous inquiry and authoritative publication on various aspects of the law in Rome of the late republic. -Archeological News Alan Watson is a Roman legal historian of outstanding status, and anything he writes, particularly when it is as thoroughly researched, as well-argued and as comprehensively footnoted as [his] work is commands detailed attention from all Romanists, lawyers and historians irrespective of their instinctive feelings. -The Irish Jurist [Watson] has a mastery of his sources, primary and secondary, and his work is of great importance for ancient and legal historians. -Library Journal

[Watson] has a mastery of his sources, primary and secondary, and his work is of great importance for ancient and legal historians. --Library Journal Alan Watson is a Roman legal historian of outstanding status, and anything he writes, particularly when it is as thoroughly researched, as well-argued and as comprehensively footnoted as [his] work is commands detailed attention from all Romanists, lawyers and historians irrespective of their instinctive feelings. --The Irish Jurist Watson enjoys a well-founded reputation for scrupulous inquiry and authoritative publication on various aspects of the law in Rome of the late republic. --Archeological News This book is fascinating and fun to read! Watson discusses the farcical nature of English criminal law until the late 19th century, and the puny attempts at law reform in general. His scholarship is impeccable, and his conclusions flow naturally from it. Watson has been recognized for his pathbreaking comparative law scholarship, and his books have come to be regarded as classics. --Gary L. Francione, Professor of Law and Nicholas de B. Katzenbach Distinguished Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University Law School, Newark and author of Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog (Temple)

Author Information

Alan Watson is Ernest P. Rogers Professor of Law and Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Georgia School of Law; he is the author or editor of some forty books, including The Evolution of Western Private Law and Legal Transplants (now in its second edition). Two collections of essays honoring Professor Watson's work have recently been published.

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