Description
Book SynopsisThis book examines how eighteenth-century law was made, defined, administered, and used. Leading historians introduce current debates about the nature of eighteenth-century law and society and reflect on contemporary concepts of corruption, oppression, and institutional efficiency. The result is an invaluable account of the legal bases of eighteenth-century society.
Trade Review'Landau has done a splendid job in bringing these essays together and this volume is bound to take its place among the distinguished essay collections that seem to predominate in the field of English criminal justice history.' H-Net
Table of Contents1. Introduction Norma Landau; Part I. Law: 2. Dread of the Crown Office: the magistracy and King's Bench 1740–1800 Douglas Hay; 3. The trading justice's trade Norma Landau; 4. Impressment and the law in eighteenth-century Britain Nicholas Rogers; Part II. Crime: 5. 'Press gangs are better magistrates than the Middlesex justices.' Young offenders, press gangs and prosecution strategies in eighteenth and early nineteenth-century England Peter King; 6. Making the 'bloody code'? Forgery legislation in eighteenth-century England Randall McGowen; 7. Mapping the criminal law: Blackstone and the categories of English jurisprudence David Lieberman; Part III. Society: 8. After Somerset: Mansfield, slavery and the law in England, 1772–1830 Ruth Paley; 9. Religion and the law: evidence, proof and 'matter of fact' 1660–1700 Barbara Shapiro; 10. The press and public apologies in eighteenth-century London Donna Andrew; 11. Origins of the factory acts: the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act 1802 Joanna Innes.
