Finalist for the National Book Award: A fascinating history of Anglo-American law from one of its most important practitioners What do the thoughts of a ravenous tiger have to do with the evolution of America's legal system? How do the works of Jane Austen and Ludwig van Beethoven relate to corporal punishment? In The Law of the Land, Charles Rembar examines these and many other topics, illustrating the surprisingly entertaining history of US law. Best known for his passionate efforts to protect literature, including Lady Chatterley's Lover, from censorship laws, Rembar offers an exciting look at the democratic judicial system that will appeal to lawyers and laymen alike. From the dark days of medieval England, when legal disputes were settled by duel, through recent paradigm shifts in the interpretation and application of the legal code, The Law of the Land is a compelling and informative history of the rules and regulations we so often take for granted.
"A learned, thoughtful, witty legal history for the layman. The author, an American attorney, takes us back to Britain before the Norman conquests and brings us forward to the present."
The New Yorker
"A book that should fascinate both lawyers and those who throw up their hands at them."
The Wall Street Journal
"The origin and use of such features of our Anglo-American legal system as juries, evidence, and witnesses are studied here in their historical context. Rembar demonstrates wit and erudition as he reviews the political and social life that molded important legal matters."
