The Courts, the Church and the Constitution: Aspects of the Disruption of 1843

A riveting insight into the way one of the greatest Scottish judges of the late 20th century thought and wrote about one of the greatest crises of the mid-19th century Scotland.

–Ian Mitchell’s Book Recommendations.

For anyone specialising in Scottish church or legal history over the long nineteenth century this is essential reading; but it should also be of value to those with a more general interest in issues of church-state relations.’The bookcase of many a Scottish household’, notes Lord Rodger, ‘used to contain a copy of Brown’s Annals of the Disruption – that most sentimental of books’. Mine still does: and I am delighted to have the Courts, the Church and the Constitution as an unsentimental companion to set alongside it.–Frank Cramer, Durham “Ecclesiastical Law Journal “

This will doubtless become a principal text for churchmen with an interest in constitutional questions, and for civil lawyers with an interest in ecclesiastical questions. The second strength lies in the human interest woven through the narrative. Throughout the book, but especially in the second lecture and in many of the endnotes, the character of the ministers, counsel and judges – and many of them were certainly Scottish “characters” – is brought to life in this elegant and cultured account of the events and their context… Divinity schools should be as glad at the appearance of this scholarly and gently witty volume as law schools certainly must be.–Marjory A MacLean, Depute Clerk to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland “Edinburgh Law Review “