The Law of the Land, Charles Rembar
The Law of the Land, Charles Rembar
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The Law of the Land
The Evolution of Our Legal System

Author: Charles Rembar

Narrator: James Anderson Foster

Unabridged: 15 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 08/20/2019

Categories: Nonfiction, Law

Synopsis

National Book Award Finalist: "A learned, thoughtful, witty legal history for the layman" (The New Yorker).What do the thoughts of a ravenous tiger have to do with the evolution of America's legal system? How do the works of Jane Austen and Ludwig van Beethoven relate to corporal punishment? In The Law of the Land, Charles Rembar examines these and many other topics, illustrating the surprisingly entertaining history of US law.Best known for his passionate efforts to protect literature, including Lady Chatterley's Lover, from censorship laws, Rembar offers an exciting look at the democratic judicial system that will appeal to lawyers and laymen alike. From the dark days of medieval England, when legal disputes were settled by duel, through recent paradigm shifts in the interpretation and application of the legal code, The Law of the Land is a compelling and informative history of the rules and regulations we so often take for granted.

About Charles Rembar

Charles Rembar (1915–2000) was an American lawyer. Born and raised in New Jersey, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1935 and his law degree from Columbia University in 1938. He spent several years working for New Deal agencies before serving in the US Army Air Corps during World War II. Rembar is best known as a constitutional- and First Amendment–rights lawyer. His work representing Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer, D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and John Cleland’s Fanny Hill played a major role in changing the nation’s approach to obscenity and censorship laws. His book The End of Obscenity: The Trials of Lady Chatterley, Tropic of Cancer & Fanny Hill by the Lawyer Who Defended Them (1968) won the George Polk Award in journalism. Perspective (1975) is a collection of essays, and The Law of the Land: The Evolution of Our Legal System (1980) is a legal history of Western Europe and the United States.Rembar also founded a law firm, Rembar & Curtis, which represented well known writers such as Norman Mailer, Tom Clancy, Herman Wouk, and Louise Erdrich.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lucas

A few additional sentences in several chapters could have provided context for the sections that assume the reader is familiar with the Saxon or Norman invasions of England, or other parts of English history. Also I would have appreciated more detail on legal systems in other countries past or prese......more

Goodreads review by Carol

The history part is really interesting (I'm a lawyer but never learned any real legal history at law school), but the footnotes and "jokes" and political comments distracted. To the extent that the author could not include the footnoted matter in the text, he should have considered whether it belong......more

Goodreads review by Marc

Entertaining and informative Great book on the history of our law. The author is a complex mix of liberal and conservative and always interesting. Too bad the book more or less ends the history in 1980 when published. I would love to read about the last 40+ years too.......more

Goodreads review by Travis

It is an excellent overview of the country’s legal history. The book largely covers our legal system as it evolved through English common law. Quite a bit of English history is covered, especially contributions by British monarchs. Other topics include histories of: Courts of chancery / equity (separ......more

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