Reviews for Land Law: European Edition

The average rating for Land Law: European Edition based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-01-24 00:00:00 June Brougher If a doctor ever gives me two days to live, I will reread this book because a) it only takes two days and b) it will make those two days feel like an eternity. Other than that there is really nothing wrong with this short history of Roman law in European history. The book deals with the development of Roman law in both the republic and then the empire, through Justinian and the Middle Ages into the various branches of French and German 19th century constitutionalism and ends just before the European constitution in the early 21st century. Professor Stein takes special care to dispel the notion that European law is uniquely a product of rational reflection first inspired in Greece, developed in Rome, later universalized in the Renaissance and Germanized in the 19th century. Rather he notes the important continuous development, particularly in the Middle Ages, and is at pains to demonstrate that ius commune is not some universal Euclidian axioms but rather the product of particular cultural traits. I was glad that he avoids the idolatry of the law, something that to me is parallel to KJV-only-ism. That said, the book is as dry as a mouthful of cinnamon. If you are interested in Roman law, this is the book for you. If you are interested in the development of law itself in Europe, such as the German comitatus, British constitutionalism (Magna Carta) and civil law, the Inquisition (Medieval and Spanish) and canon law, the dissolution of slavery in Europe, the transition from Feudal law to centralized monarchies (even Absolute Monarchies), the French Revolution etc...well, sorry, those topics are too interesting to be included in the book.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-06-23 00:00:00 Armando Gonzalez Stein's work is a concise, yet fairly thorough introduction to the influence of Roman Law on European Legal History. It begins by tracing the roots of Roman Law (The Twelve Tables), and shows how it developed through the Republican, and then later, the Imperial ages (Code of Justinian). The influence of this legal system was not based on the force of government, but by quality (to adopt Sabbatani "Non ratione imperii, sed imperio rationis.") It then shows the reception of Roman law in the nation state, and brings it into the modern era with the codification movement, and finally notes how the study of Roman Law is becoming more relevant as a result of the European Community movement, although now it is less of a source of common law based on reason and more as an aspiration to a unified law by enactment. Well worth a read for canonists, Romanists, and legal scholars. Everyone else should probably give it a pass.