Description
Book SynopsisA comprehensive study of Bedouin law, including oral, pre-modern law. It shows how a nomadic desert-dwelling society provides for its own law and order in the traditional absence of any centralized authority or enforcement agency to protect it.
Trade Review“Clinton Bailey is an extraordinary master of Bedouin culture, bringing to us the beauty of Bedouin poetry and way of life. Now he has turned to a subject of equal fascination: Bedouin law, fashioned from the traditions of nomadic life and a keen sense of justice. Bailey’s book has deep meaning for anyone interested in distant cultures and in how the concept of law develops in a society.”—Anthony Lewis, author of Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment
-- Anthony Lewis
“Bailey confronts a central issue in Bedouin life: the ability to survive without a government and maintain legal traditions that contribute to social stability. There is no other comprehensive study in English that analyzes this phenomenon as thoroughly as Bailey’s.”—Ernest S. Frerichs, Brown University
-- Ernest S. Frerichs
"Bailey's book is not only original, but extremely important, as it broadens the range of literature available on the Bedouin."—Benjamin Saidel, East Carolina University
-- Benjamin Saidel
