Customer Reviews

American Law in the 20th Century

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When I first got this book, I expected a relatively dry read about the law; instead, this is a fun and informative social history of 20th Century America, with a focus on how the law influenced society and vice versa.

This is a vast subject, so even in 600 pages (plus notes), Friedman cannot be comprehensive, but he does cover a lot of different subjects. Although the biggest chapters involve crime or civil rights, he also looks into the evolution of the American family, transportation and communciations. He also deals with the development of the legal profession.

This is very well-written, with more than the occasional bits of humor. Although generally objective, he does come down hard on political conservatives at times (especially in the last part of the book). Even if disagree with his politics, however, there is still enough good material in this book to make it a really good read.

I read Friedman's book a few years ago, when as a foreigner I knew nothing about American law but became interested in the subject due to the political importance of US Supreme Court decisions. The decision to buy this particular book was rather random, but I couldn't have made a better choice.

In this book, Lawrence Friedman gives a thorough, balanced and above all engaged overview of the development of modern American law. The book is divided in chapters organized by law subject, not by historical period, which allows you to read up on the development of any field of American law you are interested in. But at the same time the reader is never left confused about the historical 'big picture', as Friedman chooses the order of narration very carefully and ensures the reader is with him all the way.

What makes the book better than just a good overview is the way Friedman manages to put the 'human element' into his narration without it becoming sentimental, dramatic or overly political. The impact of laws and decisions on the lives of various minorities or even just the average American gets ample attention, and one feels that Friedman is one of those rare legal scholars who manage to maintain a sincere and non-cynical interest in the effects of the law on common people. But by avoiding a preachy or bitter tone this engagement manages to hold the attention of the reader at a much higher level than the angry commentary of law histories on the left (Zinn) and right (Bork).

In short, anyone with even a passing interest in American law should definitely buy this book. Especially recommended for non-American audiences.

While the subject is vast and extremely complicated, Lawrence Friedman digests it down into sizeable chucks that most people could understand. I am only a sophmore in college, with no formal legal training and I could easily follow and understand this book. Its a very interesting read, it charts the progression of various fields of law from the end of the 19th century and through the end of the 20th. I found it particularly good that the book was divided into chapters based on time and then subdivided by area of law. Its a great book, I recommend it to anyone who has the slighest interest how law in the 20th century evolved.

For the average reader with an interest in American history and institutions, this is a fine book - not necessarily riveting, but a unique and commendable overview of American law in the 20th century. Young lawyers, law students and pre-law students probably have much more to gain from the book than other readers. As a lawyer of 20 years, I still enjoy reading anything that enhances my understanding of and appreciation for the role of law and lawyers in society. Students and younger lawyers will also find practical and interesting information about law school, court systems, judicial clerkships, law firms, bar associations, and legal careers within its 600 pages.

The book covers lots of legal ground and Professor Friedman's writing is active and engaging, in contrast to the grandiloquent style often preferred by historians. That said, the book fell short of a "masterpiece" for me. I found his earlier work, A History of American Law, covering per-colonial times through the 19th century, to be more inspired and colorful. My guess is that Professor Friedman finds the earlier development of American law and the characters that led that development more interesting. As a general assessment, developments in the law in the 19th century do seem more exciting and exotic - judges on horseback, land grants, iron horses bringing waves of commerce and lawyers across the frontier, and very lax standards for lawyers. By the 20th century, things started becoming a bit more routine - statutes, regulations and regulatory bodies multiplied exponentially to address taxes, health and social welfare, securities markets, agriculture, transportation and every other conceivable area of life and commerce.

And though the editorial and research challenges posed by such a huge work must have been overwhelming, while reading, I sometimes wondered what must ended up on the editing room floor to accommodate this or that deep dive into some pocket of legal trivia - like the unenlightening section on automobile law. As sometimes happens, the editor's pen (or scissors) seemed to lose its vitality in the final chapters.

Overall though, it's a good book for anyone with an interest in history and a must-read for those with legal career ambitions.

Due to a somewhat nasty review by an Amazon customer - probably some obscure and jealous colleague of Lawrence Friedman's, angry at the writer's success - I hesitated to purchase the book. I have a PhD. in law and a Master's degree from Georgetown law but I still learned a lot and I enjoyed every chapter, paragraph and line. Friedman's erudition and mastery of the subject is obvious. He writes clearly, eloquently and is never boring. His tongue in cheek systematic use of the feminine is pleasantly ironic. He keeps referring to a hypothetic lawyer as "she" instead of the politically correct and tedious "he or she".
From the point of view of a civil law lawyer (or indeed anyone wanting to learn more about the American legal system) this book is compulsory reading. Friedman's assumption that laws are shaped by society and its changes may be discussed and some of his views one may or may not agree with. But that is irrelevant, because here are 607 seven pages of superb quality and interest. ...

Mr. Friedman has written the excellent follow up to his "classic" history of American law. I'd recommend the first book, if it's still in print, and if not check the used book sites.

The author claims to be a historian, and from everything I've heard, his work on pre-20th century American law is quite good. Unfortunately, he must not be as conversant with the 20th century as he'd like to think, because there were entire movements that were completely left out of the book. For example, the dramatic impact of the women's movement on things like the Civil Rights movement was completely ignored.

In addition, he vaccilates too often on the validity of certain types of evidence. For example, when public opinion is in favor of his viewpoint, then that viewpoint has been rightly elevated to the "Pantheon" of legal thought. When public opinion is opposed to him, then the U.S. public is nothing more than a mass of ignorant fools.

Furthermore, he makes certain claims in the book which are the type that could be empirically tested. What's more, they are the type of claim that almost assuredly have been tested at some point, yet there is no support given for those claims.

Overall, a very sloppy piece of work.