The Rule of Laws: A 4,000-Year Quest to Order the World

Where do laws come from? How long have law systems existed? Pirie (law, Oxford Univ.; Legal Ideology in Tibet) explores these questions, providing a global view of the development of legal systems over the past 4,000 years. The book begins in ancient Mesopotamia and navigates to the modern world. Pirie focuses on the far-reaching and lasting influence of three major cultures; those of Mesopotamia, China, and India. She argues that these civilizations developed the kernels from which future societies often shaped or reinterpreted their systems. For instance, Hammurabi codified law in the Babylon of the 18th century BCE; these codes began a tradition of written law and also set precedents that appear again in biblical tradition, the author explains. A fascinating discussion includes the European landscape after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, when the Germanic nations re-established or integrated Roman law into local practices. There is no “legalese” here: rather, the text is very easy to read, and Pirie is gifted in explaining complex issues in simple terms. Extensive notes provide guides for further reading.