In this first U.S. edition of a classic work of comparative legal scholarshipAlan Watson argues that law fails to keep step with social change even whenthat cha... » 

In this first U.S. edition of a classic work of comparative legal scholarshipAlan Watson argues that law fails to keep step with social change even whenthat change is massive. To illustrate the ways in which law is dysfunctionalhe draws on the two most innovative western systems of Rome and England toshow that harmful rules continue for centuries. To make his case he usesexamples where in the main the law benefits no recognizable group or classwithin the society except possibly lawyers who benefit from confusion and isgenerally inconvenient or positively harmful to society as a whole or to largeor powerful groups within the society.Widely respected for his fearless challenge of the accepted or dominant viewand his own encyclopedic knowledge of Roman law The Encyclopedia ofHistorians and Historical Writing Watson considers the development of law inglobal terms and across the centuries. His arguments centering on how societiesborrow from other legal systems and the continuity of legal systems areparticularly instructive for those interested in legal development and thedevelopment of a common law for the European Union. «