Cambridge University Press, July 2008, 3 vol. (ISBN-13: 9780521803045) £195.00

Présentation éditeur
Law stands at the center of modern American life. Since the 1950s, American historians have produced an extraordinarily rich and diverse account of law and legal institutions in American history. But even though our knowledge has increased enormously, few attempts have been made to draw its many parts together in a summary and synthesis of the history of law in America. The Cambridge History of Law in America has been designed for just this purpose. Sixty of the leading historians of law in the United States have been brought together in one enterprise to present the most comprehensive and authoritative account possible of the history of American law. The Cambridge History of Law in America has been made possible by the generous support of the American Bar Foundation.

• Contributions from over 60 scholars, all the leading historians of law in the US
• Covers American law from the first contact of Europeans to the beginning of the 21st century
• An original, comprehensive, and authoritative account of American law.

Review
The publication of the three volumes of the Cambridge History of Law in America is undoubtedly a publishing tour de force and provides an unrivalled expression of current thinking on how and why American law and its institutions developed from the earliest settlements through to the early twenty-first century.' The Historical Association

Contributors
Anthony Pagden, Katherine A. Hermes, Mary Sarah Bilder, Richard J. Ross, David Thomas Konig, Michael Meranze, Christopher Tomlins, Sally E. Hadden, Holly Brewer, Mark McGarvie, Elizabeth Mensch, Bruce H. Mann, Claire Priest, Jack P. Greene, Jack N. Rakove, Saul Cornell, Gerald Leonard, James A. Henretta, Mark R. Wilson, Hugh C. MacGill, R. Kent Newmyer, Alfred S. Konefsky, Kermit L. Hall, Elizabeth Dale, Kunal M. Parker, David E. Wilkins, Norma Basch, Ariela Gross, Laura F. Edwards, Barbara Young Welke, Nan Goodman, Sarah Barringer Gordon, Tony A. Freyer, B. Zorina Khan, Karen Orren, Jonathan Lurie, Eileen P. Scully, William E. Forbath, Daniel R. Ernst, William W. Fisher III, Robert W. Gordon, Edward A. Purcell, Jr., Lawrence M. Friedman, Michael Willrich, Leslie J. Reagan, Barry Cushman, Eileen Boris, Gwendolyn Mink, Samantha Ann Majic, Leandra Zarnow, Mark Tushnet, Michael J. Klarman, Margot Canaday, Betsy Mendelsohn, Victoria Saker Woeste, John Henry Schlegel, Gregory A. Mark, Norman L. Rosenberg, Mary L. Dudziak, Yves Dezalay, Bryant G. Garth

Détail des volumes:

• Volume 1. - Early America (1580–1815), Edited by Christopher Tomlins, Michael Grossberg, July 2008, ISBN-13:9780521803052, £75.00

This volume covers American law from the earliest settlement and colonization of North America.
'This volume is an original and extensive study of an area of colonial history that has been given less prominence than it deserves. I thoroughly recommend it.' The Historical Association

• Vol. 2. - The Long Nineteenth Century (1789–1920), Edited by Christopher Tomlins, Michael Grossberg, July 2008, ISBN-13:9780521803069, £75.00

This volume covers American law in the nineteenth century and describes the development of modern legal systems.

• Vol. 3. - The Twentieth Century and After (1920–), Edited by Christopher Tomlins, Michael Grossberg, July 2008, ISBN-13:9780521803076, £75.00

This volume covers the twentieth century after World War I and makes predictions for the twenty-first century.

Source: http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521803045

Cambridge University Press, May 2008 , ISBN-13: 9780521885362, £55.00 (Also available in eBook format)

Présentation éditeur
The framers of the American Constitution were substantially influenced by ancient history and classical political theory, as exemplified by their education, the availability of classical readings, and their inculcation in classical republican values. This volume explores how the framing generation deployed classical learning to develop many of the essential structural aspects of the Constitution: federalism, separation of powers, a bicameral legislature, independent courts, and the war and foreign relations powers. Also examined are very contemporary constitutional debates, for which there were classical inspirations, including sovereign immunity, executive privilege, line-item vetoes, and the electoral college. Combining techniques of intellectual history, classical studies, and constitutional interpretation, this book makes a unique contribution to our understanding of contemporary constitutionalism.

• Detailed analysis of essential constitutional law concepts and contemporary debates on constitutional issues
• Very close examination of classical sources to fully understand the impact of the classical tradition on the American constitution
• Highly readable and accessible to general readers

Contents 1. The framers' classical education and world view; 2. Classical political models and the founders; 3. Constitution-making and ancient history; 4. Modern resonances; 5. The classical Constitution.

Source: http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521885362

Cambridge University Press, August 2007, ISBN-13: 9780521864480 (Also available in eBook format), £58.00

Présentation éditeur
In this important new study, Trevor Dean examines the history of crime and criminal justice in Italy from the mid-thirteenth to the end of the fifteenth century. The book contains studies of the most frequent types of prosecuted crime such as violence, theft and insult, along with the rarely prosecuted sorcery and sex crimes. Drawing on a diverse and innovative range of sources, including legislation, legal opinions, prosecutions, chronicles and works of fiction, Dean demonstrates how knowledge of the history of criminal justice can illuminate our wider understanding of the Middle Ages. Issues and instruments of criminal justice reflected the structure and operation of state power; they were an essential element in the evolution of cities and they provided raw material for fictions. Furthermore, the study of judicial records provides insight into a wide range of social situations, from domestic violence to the oppression of ethnic minorities.

• Includes evidence from the whole of Italy and therefore avoids the dominant historiography’s focus on Florence and Venice
• Combines factual and fictional, judicial and narrative sources
• Contains some interesting and colourful cases such as skilful thieves, sacrilegious sex and inventive tricksters

Contents Introduction; 1. Trial records; 2. Chronicles; 3. Fiction; 4. Statute law; 5. Consilia; 6. Insult and revenge; 7. Sex crimes; 8. Poisons and potions; 9. Violence; 10. Theft.

Source: http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521864480

juni 2009

Nieuwsflash Geachte lezer,

Deze week verkregen we zeer goed nieuws. Het Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis wordt voortaan geïndexeerd in de Arts and Humanities Citation Index : het TRG wordt A1.

We hoeven hier niet te benadrukken hoe belangrijk dit is in de hedendaagse wereld van rankings en lijstjes. In Vlaanderen bv. is het aantal publicaties in A1-tijdschriften een van de criteria bij de toebedeling van geld aan de universiteiten. Voor gevestigde onderzoekers valt dit nog mee, maar op hun jongere collega’s rust een zeer zware druk om in A1-tijdschriften te publiceren. Een probleem voor rechtshistorici is evenwel dat er eigenlijk geen rechtshistorische A1-tijdschriften zijn, tenzij men zich plots tot de Amerikaanse rechtsgeschiedenis wil bekeren.

De redactie van het Tijdschrift heeft daarom enkele jaren geleden besloten de procedure op te starten om erkend te worden als A1-tijdschrift omdat ze van oordeel was dat het Tijdschrift van een zeer hoge kwaliteit is en omdat ze bekommerd is om de toekomstperspectieven van de jonge rechtshistorici uit de Nederlanden. Door de inzet van de redactiesecretaris, en de steun van de mensen van uitgever Brill, inz. van Hylke Faber, is het dus gelukt. Bepaalde dingen zullen overigens nog enige tijd vragen. Het zijn bv. alleen de nieuwe artikelen die A1 zullen worden. Het tijdschrift zal ook opgenomen worden in Social Scisearch en in de Journal Citation Reports, Social Sciences. Voor dat laatste moet de impactfactor van het Tijdschrift nog berekend worden, maar de mensen van Brill zullen daarvoor het nodige doen. Hoe dan ook, onze gelukwensen aan het Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis dat nu nog meer dan vroeger aan de top staat. (Tenzij we ons daarin vergissen en dat kan, want we hebben maar vluchtig gezocht, is het TRG het enige rechtshistorische tijdschrift in de A1-lijst.)

Met vriendelijke groet,

Dirk Heirbaut,
Bruno Debaenst,
Bram Van Dael.

Cf.: http://www.rechtsgeschiedenis.be