A Short History of Western Legal Theory

by John Maurice Kelly

This unique publication outlines the development of legal theory from pre-Roman times through the twentieth century. It relates the evolution of legal theory to parallel developments in political theory and history. This work also discusses the relevant contemporary events in politics, economics, and religion. Each chapter begins with a synopsis of related historical background for the period, going on to discuss how these events are related to political and legal theory as well as how they become an influence on one another. Avoiding the conventional approach of "traditions" or "schools" of thought, this work aims to anchor legal theory to contemporary general history.

Genres: Law, History, Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction

488 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 1992

Reviews

[zoezoezoezoez · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great overview of western (legal) history but i will vomit if i see this book again

[Luke Echo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically a Legal thought equivalent to Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy. Which was exactly what I'd been looking for. Really good survey of key works, thinkers and issues as they develop from the Greeks, Romans, Middle Ages to today. A clear and well structured text, and particularly useful was the sections returning to key aspects of law in each epoch.

Provides are good foundation for more detailed study of legal theory or philosophy.

[Soheil · Rating 2 out of 5]

این کتاب فوق العاده است. و البته نسبت به سایر کتبی که از مولف چاپ شده، ترجمه ساده تر و روان تری داره

[C.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of the various streams of western legal theory set in a historical context.

[Mohammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب بسیار خوبی هست. ترجمه نسبتا خوبی هم داره. ترجمه های آقای راسخ بعد از این کتاب دیگه کیفیت قابل قبولی ندارن.

[Lukas op de Beke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb book, although not for the reasons mentioned by Kelly in his preface. In fact, I found all the chapters up to Reformation and Renaissance fairly anemic and repetitive with respect to legal theory. To put it differently, it seems there just isn't much to say about legal theory prior to the 19th or even 20th century and I doubt that it one's knowledge of legal theory is helped by what the Greeks or Romans understood under "legal theory", which appears to be very little. The one thing that did stick with me is the endlessly repeated distinction between the Roman top-down theory of state legitimacy and the Germanic bottom-up counterpart.

Even so, Kelly is a formidable broad-scope historian and his summary historical overviews of each period at the beginning of each chapter are a joy to read. This also counts for his critical appraisal and detailed exposition of the "greats" (Finnis, Hart, Dworkin etc.) of contemporary legal theory.

[Navid Sheydaei · Rating 5 out of 5]

کتاب واقعا خوبیه برای فهم تاریخ گذار به حقوق مدرن امروز. در زمینه تئوریهای معاصر به زعم خودش نقص داره اما چیزی کم‌نمیکنه از ارزشش. ترجمه ش حقیقتا خوبه چون دکتر راسخ خودش مدرس و پژوهشگر این حوزه ست و میفهمه چیزی رو که ترجمه کرده.

[Shawn]

I lost steam about halfway through this one. Interesting as far as it goes, but I don't hear it calling me back anytime soon.

[Juje · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been a 30 min youtube video