“When a field grows as explosively as American legal history has over the past generation, a volume like this becomes necessary and useful. These essays, collectively and individually, capture the scholarly moment with grace, good humor, and erudition.” (Expofairs.com, 19 November 2014)
“Blackwell is to be commended for commissioning this fine anthology of bibliographical essays on American legal history… Hadden and Brophy have done a superb job of gathering contributors and unifying their efforts.” (Law and History Review, 1 February 2014)
“Whether as an opening portal to the field or as a point of reference for those already active in it, A Companion to American Legal History should attract both interest and use..” (Journal of American History, 1 March 2014)
“It is modelled exactly on the other volumes in the Wiley-Blackwell series: a large well-made octavo, nicely printed, solidly bound. There are no documents or illustrations; just 28 interesting essays and a good index.” (Reference Reviews, 1 March 2014)
“The collection provides the most comprehensive examination of American legal history to date. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections.” (Choice, 1 January 2014)
“A Companion to American Legal History is an essential compendium of the state of the art, a reliable guide to a discipline that is daily crossing boundaries and probing more deeply into the role law has played in American life.”
—David Konig, Washington University in St. Louis
“A remarkable collection of first-rate historians have contributed to this indispensable guide to the burgeoning field of American legal history. A must-read for students and scholars alike.”
—Ariela Gross, University of Southern California
“When a field grows as explosively as American legal history has over the past generation, a volume like this becomes necessary and useful. These essays, collectively and individually, capture the scholarly moment with grace, good humor, and erudition.”
—Hendrik Hartog, Princeton University
From the Inside Flap
In the past several decades, few fields of historical study have seen as much growth as the history of American law. Reflecting a wealth of new material in this field, A Companion to American Legal History presents a comprehensive analysis of the most recent scholarship on legal history from the colonial era through the late twentieth century. Featuring contributions from the finest established and emerging legal scholars, essays treat major time periods and themes from the perspective of race, gender, family, and labor, through to economics, jurisprudence, and crime. The essays represent an authoritative overview of leading historical interpretations as they address essential legal questions and point to future interpretive research directions to understand the complexities of American law and its legal institutions. A Companion to American Legal History offers illuminating insights into the evolution of the laws that have shaped—and been shaped by—American society from its origins until the present today.
From the Back Cover
In the past several decades, few fields of historical study have seen as much growth as the history of American law. Reflecting a wealth of new material in this field, A Companion to American Legal History presents a comprehensive analysis of the most recent scholarship on legal history from the colonial era through the late twentieth century. Featuring contributions from the finest established and emerging legal scholars, essays treat major time periods and themes from the perspective of race, gender, family, and labor, through to economics, jurisprudence, and crime. The essays represent an authoritative overview of leading historical interpretations as they address essential legal questions and point to future interpretive research directions to understand the complexities of American law and its legal institutions. A Companion to American Legal History offers illuminating insights into the evolution of the laws that have shaped—and been shaped by—American society from its origins until the present today.
About the Author
Sally E. Hadden is Associate Professor of History at Western Michigan University, where she teaches legal history and the history of early America. She is the author of Slave Patrols: Law and Violence in Virginia and the Carolinas (2001) and co-editor of Signposts: New Directions in Southern Legal History (with P. Minter, 2013).
Alfred L. Brophy is Judge John J. Parker Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he teaches property and trusts and estates. His books include Reparations: Pro and Con (2006), Integrating Spaces: Property Law and Race (with A. Lopez and K. Murray, 2011), and Transformations in American Legal History (with D. Hamilton, 2010).
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