Ellen Goodman uses extensive extracts from original writings to highlight the main themes of the Western legal tradition. The book has a clear focus on the heart of the tradition: constitutionalism, representative institutions, and rule by law. Goodman links Christianity to its origins in Greek philosophy & Judaism. She delves into the position of the Roman Church as the tenuous, Dark Ages conduit. Feudalism lives and dies, and the common law and parliament emerge. The author accurately and vividly charts the main currents, avoiding both the shoals and the myriad tributaries, and so enables readers to have a clearer and deeper understanding of our present legal system.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: Foundations of Western Thought
CHAPTER 2: The Sophists, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
CHAPTER 3: The Advent of Christianity
CHAPTER 4: Roman Imperialism and the Christians
CHAPTER 5: The Roman Law and the Roman Church
CHAPTER 6: From Feudalism to Feudal Law
CHAPTER 7: The Crisis between Papacy and Empire
CHAPTER 8: Emergence of the Common Law
CHAPTER 9: Origins of Constitutionalism
CHAPTER 10: The Origins of Parliament in England

References
Index