This is the standard reader in American law and constitutional development. The selections demonstrate that the legal order, once defined by society, helps in molding the various forces of the social life of that society. The essays cover the entire period of the American experience, from the colonies to postindustrial society.

Additions to this enlarged edition include essays by Michael Parrish on the Depression and the New Deal; Abram Chayes on the role of the judge in public law litigation; David Vogel on social regulation; Harry N. Scheiber on doctrinal legacies and institutional innovations in the relation between law and the economy; and Lawrence M. Friedman on American legal history.

The best of its kind available… This collection is highly recommended. -- Jonathan Lurie * American Journal of Legal History *
A highly useful study… Among those whose work is included are well-known, prominent specialists in the fields of history, law, and political science. -- H. Dean Peters * Ohio History *

Lawrence M. Friedman is Marion Rice Kirkwood Professor of Law at Stanford Law School. Harry N. Scheiber is Professor of Law, University of California School of Law, Berkeley.