The Best Common Law Books 2025

Updated On July 16th, 2025

Looking for the best Common Law Books? You aren't short of choices in 2022. The difficult bit is deciding the best Common Law Books for you, but luckily that's where we can help. Based on testing out in the field with reviews, sells etc, we've created this ranked list of the finest Common Law Books.

Rank Product Name Score
1
Pre-Owned Concise History of the Common Law Paperback

Pre-Owned Concise History of the Common Law Paperback

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2
Pre-Owned Laughing at the Gods (Paperback) 1107662761 9781107662766

Pre-Owned Laughing at the Gods (Paperback) 1107662761 9781107662766

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3
Pre-Owned The Nature of the Common Law, 9780674604810, 0674604814, Paperback, Reprint edition

Pre-Owned The Nature of the Common Law, 9780674604810, 0674604814, Paperback, Reprint edition

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4
Pre-Owned The Common Law (Paperback) 0316371327 9780316371322

Pre-Owned The Common Law (Paperback) 0316371327 9780316371322

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5
Pre-Owned Pursuing Justice: Traditional and Contemporary Issues in Our Communities and the World Paperback

Pre-Owned Pursuing Justice: Traditional and Contemporary Issues in Our Communities and the World Paperback

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6
Pre-Owned Principles of Law and Economics: Third Edition (Paperback 9781784717506) by Antony W. Dnes

Pre-Owned Principles of Law and Economics: Third Edition (Paperback 9781784717506) by Antony W. Dnes

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7
Pre-Owned Evolution and the Common Law (Paperback) 0521614910 9780521614917

Pre-Owned Evolution and the Common Law (Paperback) 0521614910 9780521614917

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8
Pre-Owned A Concise History of the Common Law. Fifth Edition. (Paperback) by Theodore F T Plucknett

Pre-Owned A Concise History of the Common Law. Fifth Edition. (Paperback) by Theodore F T Plucknett

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9
Pre-Owned The Constitutionalist Revolution: An Essay on the History of England, 1450 1642 (Paperback) 0521788110 9780521788113

Pre-Owned The Constitutionalist Revolution: An Essay on the History of England, 1450 1642 (Paperback) 0521788110 9780521788113

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10
Pre-Owned The Spirit of the Common Law (Paperback) by Roscoe Pound

Pre-Owned The Spirit of the Common Law (Paperback) by Roscoe Pound

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1. Pre-Owned Concise History of the Common Law Paperback

Pre-Owned Concise History of the Common Law Paperback
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9780865978072. Pre-Owned: Good condition. Paperback. Pages: 802. 802 p. Intended for college/higher education audience. As always during its long history, English common law, upon which American law is based, has had to defend itself against the challenge of civil law's clarity and traditions. That challenge to our common law heritage remains today. To that end, Liberty Fund now makes available a clear and candid discussion of common law. A Concise History of the Common Law provides a source for common-law understanding of individual rights, not in theory only, but protected through the confusing and messy evolution of courts, and their administration as they struggled to resolve real problems. Plucknett's seminal work is intended to convey a sense of historical development -- not to serve merely as a work of reference. The first half of the book is a historical introduction to the study of law. Plucknett discusses the conditions in political, economic, social, and religious thought that have contributed to the genesis of law. This section is a brief but astoundingly full introduction to the study of law. The second half of the book consists of chapters introducing the reader to the history of some of the main divisions of law, such as criminal, tort, property, contract, and succession. These topics are treated with careful exposition so that the book will be of interest to those just embarking on their quest in legal history while still providing enough substantial information, references, and footnotes to make it meaningful for the well-versed legal history reader.

Pre-Owned A Concise History of the Common Law (Paperback 9780865978072) by Theodore F T Plucknett

2. Pre-Owned Laughing at the Gods (Paperback) 1107662761 9781107662766

Pre-Owned Laughing at the Gods (Paperback) 1107662761 9781107662766
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Our books are pre-loved which means they have been read before. We carefully check all our books and believe them to be in a - USED - VERY GOOD Condition condition. If you're not completely satisfied please get in touch & we'll be happy to help. ISBN-10: 1107662761, ISBN.-13: 9781107662766 This book showcases eight judges that the author argues exemplify judicial greatness and looks at what role they play in law and society, postulating qualities of judges who in their judicial tenures have shown vision and inventiveness that has fundamentally influenced the impact of law on society.

Title: Laughing at the Gods Book Format: Paperback ISBN10: 1107662761 EAN: 9781107662766 Author: Hutchinson, Allan C. CONDITION - GOOD - Pre-Owned - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include 'From the library of' labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included.

3. Pre-Owned The Nature of the Common Law, 9780674604810, 0674604814, Paperback, Reprint edition

Pre-Owned The Nature of the Common Law, 9780674604810, 0674604814, Paperback, Reprint edition
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9780674604810. Pre-Owned: Good condition. Trade paperback. Revised ed. Language: English. Pages: 224. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 224 p. Much of our law is based on authoritative texts, such as constitutions and statutes. The common law, in contrast, is that part of the law that is established by the courts. Common law rules predominate in some areas of law, such as torts and contracts, and are extremely important in other areas, such as corporations. Nevertheless, it has been far from clear what principles courts use-or should use-in establishing common law rules. In this lucid yet subtly argued book, Melvin Eisenberg develops the principles that govern this process. The rules established in every common law case, he shows, are a product of the interplay between the rules announced in past precedents, on the one hand, and moral norms, policies, and experience, on the other. However, a court establishing a common law rule is not free, as a legislator would be, to employ those norms and policies it thinks best. Rather, it can properly employ only those that have a requisite degree of social support. More specifically, the common law should seek to satisfy three standards. First, it should correspond to the body of rules that would be arrived at by giving appropriate weight to all moral norms, policies, and experiential propositions that have the requisite support, and by making the best choices where norms, policies, and experience conflict. Second, all the rules that make up the body of the law should be consistent with one another. Third, the rules adopted in past precedents should be applied consistently over time. Often, these three standards point in the same direction. The central problems of legal reasoning arise when they do not. These problems are resolved by the principles of common law adjudication. With the general principles of common law adjudication as a background, the author then examines and explains the specific modes of common law reasoning, such as reasoning from precedent, reasoning by analogy, drawing distinctions, and overruling. Throughout the book, the analysis is fully illustrated by leading cases. This innovative and carefully worked out account of the common law will be of great interest to lawyers, law students, students in undergraduate legal studies programs, scholars interested in legal theory, and all those who want to understand the basic legal institutions of our society.

The Nature of the Common Law ISBN-10 0674604814, ISBN-13 9780674604810 Author: Eisenberg; Melvin Aron Reprint edition 224 pages Harvard University Press Binding: Paperback

4. Pre-Owned The Common Law (Paperback) 0316371327 9780316371322

Pre-Owned The Common Law (Paperback) 0316371327 9780316371322
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9780316371322. Good condition. Trade paperback. Language: English. Pages: 337. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 337 p. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935) is generally considered one of the greatest justices of the United States Supreme Court. In more than 2,000 opinions, Holmes delineated an impressive legal philosophy that profoundly influenced American jurisprudence, particularly in the area of civil liberties and judicial restraint. In THE COMMON LAW, the ideas and judicial theory of Holmes can be studied and appreciated.

Title: The Common Law ISBN10: 0316371327 EAN: 9780316371322 Genre: LAW / Common Author: Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr.; Holmes, David S. Pre-Owned Condition- Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include 'From the library of' labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included.

5. Pre-Owned Pursuing Justice: Traditional and Contemporary Issues in Our Communities and the World Paperback

Pre-Owned Pursuing Justice: Traditional and Contemporary Issues in Our Communities and the World Paperback
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9781138336049. Pre-Owned: Good condition. Trade paperback. 3rd ed. Language: English. Pages: 278. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 278 p. Pursuing Justice, Third Edition, examines the issue of justice by considering the origins of the idea, formal systems of justice, current global issues of justice, and ways in which justice might be achieved by individuals, organizations, and the global community. Part I demonstrates how the idea of justice has emerged over time, starting with religion and philosophy, and then to the concept of social justice. Part II outlines the very different mechanisms used by various nations for achieving state justice, including systems based on common law, civil law, and Islamic law, with a separate discussion of the US justice system. Part III focuses on six contemporary issues of justice: war, immigration, domestic terrorism, genocide, slavery, and the environment. Finally, Part IV shows how individuals and organizations can go about pursuing justice, and describes the rise of global justice. This updated timely book helps students understand the complexities and nuances of a society's pursuit of justice. It provides students with the foundations of global justice systems, integrating Greek philosophies and major religious perspectives into a justice perspective, and contributes to undergraduate understanding of international justice bodies, NGOs, and institutions. New to the third edition is a complete chapter on immigration, with a focus on historical and global patterns as they relate to justice, as well as new material on the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, the genocide of the Rohingya of Myanmar, and the sovereign citizens movement in relation to domestic terrorism.

ISBN-10: 1138336041 ISBN-13: 9781138336049 Our books are pre-loved which means they have been read before. We carefully check all our books and believe them to be in good condition. If you're not completely satisfied please get in touch & we'll be happy to help.

6. Pre-Owned Principles of Law and Economics: Third Edition (Paperback 9781784717506) by Antony W. Dnes

Pre-Owned Principles of Law and Economics: Third Edition (Paperback 9781784717506) by Antony W. Dnes
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9781784717506. Pre-Owned: Good condition. Paperback. Edition: 3. Language: English. Intended for college/higher education audience. Principles of Law and Economics, Third Edition provides a comprehensive yet accessible guide to the field of law and economics. With its focus on principles, and use of illustrative examples, this is the ideal introduction for law students, with or without prior knowledge of economics. The textbook focuses largely on the economics of core areas in common law: property, contract and tort, with additional chapters on criminal law, procedural matters and family law. This updated third edition also includes a chapter on the economics of corporate law that addresses the key issues surrounding the nature of the firm and the incentives attached to corporate legal structures. Key features include:? Clear and succinct language used throughout with limited use of jargon or specialist terms An educational design which is accessible for use by students of law and economics alike? Economic analysis and legal principles treated in a self-contained manner for ease of reference? Legal cases summarized for the benefit of highlighting relevant economic issues ? A focus on the common law, including comparative references to civil law? Review questions at the end of each chapter to encourage further analysis and debate around key topics. The clear and non-technical approach to the subject matter makes this a perfect text for law students, or indeed for students in economics or business studies who are studying law and economics for the first time.

Pre-Owned Principles of Law and Economics: Third Edition (Paperback 9781784717506) by Antony W. Dnes

7. Pre-Owned Evolution and the Common Law (Paperback) 0521614910 9780521614917

Pre-Owned Evolution and the Common Law (Paperback) 0521614910 9780521614917
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This book offers a radical challenge to accounts of the common law's development. Contrary to received jurisprudential wisdom, it maintains there is no grand theory which will explain satisfactorily the dynamic interactions of change and stability in the common law's history. Offering original readings of Charles Darwin's and Hans-Georg Gadamer's works, the book shows that law is a rhetorical activity that can only be properly appreciated in its historical and political context; tradition and transformation are locked in a mutually reinforcing but thoroughly contingent embrace. In contrast to the dewy-eyed offerings of much contemporary work, it demonstrates that, like life, law is an organic process (i.e., events are the products of functional and localized causes) rather than a miraculous one (i.e., events are the result of some grand plan or intervention). In short, common law is a perpetual work-in-progress - evanescent, dynamic, messy, productive, tantalising, and bottom-up.

Title: Evolution and the Common Law Book Format: Paperback ISBN10: 0521614910 EAN: 9780521614917 Genre: LAW / Common Author: Hutchinson, Allan C. CONDITION - GOOD - Pre-Owned - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include 'From the library of' labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included.

8. Pre-Owned A Concise History of the Common Law. Fifth Edition. (Paperback) by Theodore F T Plucknett

Pre-Owned A Concise History of the Common Law. Fifth Edition. (Paperback) by Theodore F T Plucknett
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9781616191245. Pre-owned: Good condition. Trade paperback. Pages: 830. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 830 p. The Best Edition of this Classic History: A Comprehensive Legal History of England from the Anglo-Saxon Period through the 19th Century. Theodore Frank Thomas Plucknett [1897-1965] received his LL.B. from the University of Cambridge in 1920. He was a Fellow of the British Academy, Professor of Legal History, University of London, and Assistant Professor of Legal History at Harvard University. He was also the author of Early English Legal Literature (1958) and Edward I and Criminal Law (1960). "Professor Plucknett has such a solid reputation on both sides of the Atlantic that one expects from his pen only what is scholarly and accurate... Nor is the expectation likely to be disappointed in this book. Plucknett's book is not...a mere epitome of what is to be found elsewhere. He has explored on his own account many regions of legal history and, even where the ground has been already quartered, he has fresh methods of mapping it. The title which he has chosen is, in view of the contents of the volume, rather a narrow one. It might equally well have been A Concise History of English Law... In conjunction with Readings on the History and System of the Common Law by Dean Pound...this book will give an excellent grounding to the student of English legal history." --Percy H. Winfield. Harvard Law Review 43 (1929-30) 339-340. "[T]his book, comprehensive yet not elementary, clear yet inviting further study on the part of the reader, remains an excellent introduction to legal history and the study of law."-- Harvard Law Review 50 (1937-38) 1012. SELECTED CONTENTS BOOK ONE A General Survey of Legal History Part I The Crown and the State Part II The Courts and the Profession Part III Some Factors in Legal History Book TWO Special Part Part I Procedure Part II Crime and Tort Part III Real Property Part IV Contract Part V Equity Part VI Succession Index

9781616191245. Pre-owned: Good condition. Trade paperback. Pages: 830. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 830 p. The Best Edition of this Classic History: A Comprehensive Legal History of England from the Anglo-Saxon Period through the 19th Century. Theodore Frank Thomas Plucknett [1897-1965] received his LL.B. from the University of Cambridge in 1920. He was a Fellow of the British Academy, Professor of Legal History, University of London, and Assistant Professor of Legal History at Harvard University. He was also the author of Early English Legal Literature (1958) and Edward I and Criminal Law (1960). "Professor Plucknett has such a solid reputation on both sides of the Atlantic that one expects from his pen only what is scholarly and accurate... Nor is the expectation likely to be disappointed in this book. Plucknett's book is not...a mere epitome of what is to be found elsewhere. He has explored on his own account many regions of legal history and, even where the ground has been already quartered, he has fresh methods of mapping it. The title which he has chosen is, in view of the contents of the volume, rather a narrow one. It might equally well have been A Concise History of English Law... In conjunction with Readings on the History and System of the Common Law by Dean Pound...this book will give an excellent grounding to the student of English legal history." --Percy H. Winfield. Harvard Law Review 43 (1929-30) 339-340. "[T]his book, comprehensive yet not elementary, clear yet inviting further study on the part of the reader, remains an excellent introduction to legal history and the study of law."-- Harvard Law Review 50 (1937-38) 1012. SELECTED CONTENTS BOOK ONE A General Survey of Legal History Part I The Crown and the State Part II The Courts and the Profession Part III Some Factors in Legal History Book TWO Special Part Part I Procedure Part II Crime and Tort Part III Real Property Part IV Contract Part V Equity Part VI Succession Index

9. Pre-Owned The Constitutionalist Revolution: An Essay on the History of England, 1450 1642 (Paperback) 0521788110 9780521788113

Pre-Owned The Constitutionalist Revolution: An Essay on the History of England, 1450 1642 (Paperback) 0521788110 9780521788113
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An innovative account of English constitutional ideas from the mid-fifteenth century to the time of Charles I, showing how the emergence of grand claims for common law, the country's strange unwritten legal system, shaped England's cultural development. Though he does not neglect the role of narrowly religious disagreements, Cromartie brings out the way that 'religious' and 'secular' values came to be closely intertwined: to the majority of Charles's subjects, the rights of the clergy and the king were legal rights; the institutional structure of Church and state was an expression of monarchical power, obedience to the king and to the law was a religious duty. A proper understanding of this cluster of ideas reveals why Charles found England so difficult to control and why both parties in the civil war believed that they were fighting for established institutions.

Title: The Constitutionalist Revolution: An Essay on the History of England, 1450 1642 Book Format: Paperback ISBN10: 0521788110 EAN: 9780521788113 Author: Cromartie, Alan CONDITION - GOOD - Pre-Owned - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include 'From the library of' labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included.

10. Pre-Owned The Spirit of the Common Law (Paperback) by Roscoe Pound

Pre-Owned The Spirit of the Common Law (Paperback) by Roscoe Pound
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CONDITION â USED: Books sold are in GOOD or better condition. Good Condition: Minimal damage to the cover, dust jacket may not be included, minimal wear to binding, most of the pages undamaged(e.g., minimal creases or tears), highlighting / underlining acceptable on books as long as the text is readable and markings are not excessive, no missing pages. May be a former library book, with usual treatments(e.g., mylar covers, call stickers, stamps, card pockets, barcodes, or remainder marks). Extra components, such as CDs, DVDs, figurines, or access codes are not included. ISBN: 9781560009429 ISBN10: 156000942X Contributors: Pound, Roscoe,

ISBN: 9781560009429 Condition: Pre-Owned: Good Trade paperback Language: English Pages: 286 Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 286 p. The Spirit of the Common Law is one of Roscoe Pound's most notable works. It contains the brilliant lectures he delivered at Dartmouth College in the summer of 1921. It is a seminal book embodying the spiritual essence of sociological jurisprudence by its leading prophet. This work is both a celebration of the common law and a warning for common law judges and lawyers to return to and embrace the pragmatism and judicial empiricism that define and energize the common law. The two fundamental doctrines of the common law, Pound writes, are the doctrine of precedents and the doctrine of supremacy of law.In an earlier preface, Justice Arthur J. Goldberg writes that The Spirit of the Common Law will always be treasured by judges and lawyers for its philosophy and history, but more importantly for Roscoe Pound's optimism and faith in the capacity of law to keep up with the times without sacrificing fundamental values. It is a faith built upon the conviction that the present is not to be divorced from the past, but rather that the past and the present are to be built upon to make a better future. Neil Hamilton and Mathias Alfred Jaren provide a biographical introduction to the book. They discuss the various influences upon Pound's scholarly pursuits and they analyze many of his writings that led up to The Spirit of the Common Law. This volume is a necessary addition to the libraries of legal scholars and professionals, sociologists, and philosophers.


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