Law in America
Lawrence M. Friedman, Law in America: A Short History (Modern Library, 2004)
Summary: A broad history of the American legal system. Race, class, politico-economics, and social policy. Less comprehensive, more snapshot.
Key Quote: "An individualistic, consuming, wealthy society; a free market, a free trade society; a society of plural equality—such a society cannot do without an enormous umbrella of law and legal process. Law is the glue that binds the cells of Leviathan's body; and the body of society itself." - p. 183
Bottom Line: Read this book if you didn't go to law school and want a light-duty primer on U.S. legal history.
