Invitation to Law

An illuminating guide to the pervasiveness and intricacies of law and an ideal invitation for those interested in its mechanics, purposes and functions. It is a thorough guide to a mysterious and complex institution and profession. 1. The Pervasiveness of Law 1

2. Legal Ideals and Sordid Realities 28

3. Legal Systems and Legal Traditions 53

4. The Divisions of the Law 83

5. The Sources of Law 111

6. Lawyers 142

7. The Academic Study of the Law 173

8. The Future of the Law 204

9. Where Next? 212

Index 224

"A delightful book - one can open it at almost any page and be drawn in. It is no small compliment to say that it would be an excellent appealing appetiser for uncommited 6th formers and pre-law students.... all three years of undergraduates would get benefit from reading it." V Tunkel, Queen Mary College, London Alfred William Brian Simpson, referred to as Brian Simpson, was a British legal historian and the emeritus Charles F. and Edith J. Clyne Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. He was born in Kendal, Cumbria, England. Simpson was educated at Oakham School and The Queen's College, Oxford, where he took a First in Law. He was a fellow and tutor of Lincoln College, Oxford from 1955-1973, before various professorships at the Universities of Kent (1975-1983), Chicago, Michigan, Cambridge and Toronto. Brilliantly written, even by the high standards of the popular Invitations series, this book offers an engaging introduction to law for the rapidly increasing number of students, both at school and beyond, who enrol in law courses.

Law is something which surrounds us all from birth. As children we acquire an understanding of right and wrong, Robin Hood, highwaymen and outlaws, cops and robbers and as we grow older we begin to understand that government is also based on principles of law. Though everyday life may rarely if ever have brought most citizens into contact with criminal law, motoring law apart, few can have escaped involvement of one kind or another with such laws as tax laws, the laws saying when shops may open, and at what age you may purchase liquor.

Professor Simpson's book is an illuminating guide to the pervasiveness and intricacies of law and an ideal invitation for those interested in its mechanics, purposes and functions. It is a thorough guide to a mysterious and complex institution and profession.