A Historical Introduction to English Law
Genesis of the Common Law

Designed for those studying law for the first time, this book explores where the English common law came from.

Russell Sandberg (Author)

9781107462731, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 May 2023

300 pages
24.4 x 17 x 1.6 cm, 0.52 kg

'An edgy, erudite and engaging story of English legal history. Eschewing a smooth narrative of progress, this volume shows how the common law tradition grew by fits and starts over the centuries. Students will love this bouncy and buoyant introduction to legal history, and seasoned scholars will learn much from this 'subversive' account.' John Witte, Jr, Emory University

There are some stories that need to be told anew to every generation. This book tells one such story. It explores the historical origins of the common law and explains why that story needs to be understood by all who study or come into contact with English law. The book functions as the prequel to what students learn during their law degrees or for the SQE. It can be read in preparation for, or as part of, modules introducing the study of English law or as a starting point for specialist modules on legal history or aspects of legal history. This book will not only help students understand and contextualise their study of the current law but it will also show them that the options they have to change the law are greater than they might assume from just studying the current law.

Prologue: The Man of Law's Tale
1. The need for legal history
2. The architects of legal history
3. The Anglo-Saxon legacy
4. The Norman Conquest (c.1066–1154)
5. The father of the common law (c.1154–1215)
6. The myth of Magna Carta (c.1215–1272)
7. The English Justinian (c.1272–1307)
8. The Black Death (c.1307–1485)
9. The Tudor transformation (c.1485–1603)
10. The Stuart suicide (c.1603–1649)
Epilogue: Destiny of the common law
Afterword.

Subject Areas: Legal history [LAZ], British & Irish history [HBJD1]