Customer Reviews

The Oxford Companion to American Law (Oxford Companions)

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I came by this book while actually looking for something else, and found it to be very informative and useful. Similar to other Oxford companions it is cross-referenced and attempts to be usable to both the legal community as well as ordinary people.

The bookk is centered upon themes in law (common law, constitutional law, environmental law, etc. rather than specific cases, which makes it a bit cumbersome until the reader learns what the book is really meant to provide. If one is looking for specific Supreme Court cases then the companion to the Supreme Court should be consulted. But the point is that other books are out there for specific case histories. This book attempts to pull legal issues together into a single point of reference. True legal scholars will likely feel this book is too brief on specifics, but the lay reader will find it useful in putting perspective on common legal questions of the present.

The colossal "The Oxford Companion to American Law" is a valuable legal resource for the untrained person and the mature attorney. It borders on 900 pages and is written so well one can read many of its entries in a relaxated state. 300 top legal scholars offer the reader 468 articles.

The editors make this a very handy compilation inasmuch as they provide:

- Indexes of subjects and cases (including citations)
- Cross-referenced and user-friendly entries
- Current sources on all the topics covered.

The essays are written with fine concision and a readable style. There are not many resources that can match its comprehensiveness and its skill in communicating difficult legal concepts and laws.

Hall delivers solid coverage on:

- Institutions
- Legal Doctrines
- Forensic concepts
- Important persons, events, and legal cases.


One disappointment for me was: TOCAL lacks an entry on perjury. Nonetheless thisis a marvelous resource for the legal advocate or the non-professional.
There Are Moral Absolutes: How to Be Absolutely Sure That Christianity Alone Supplies

This tome (*large* volume) contains much interesting and useful material but, unfortunately, a very few of its authors have an ideological axe to grind. A publication of this sort should be aimed at objectivity, and not be a forum for certain "contributors" to propagate their personal sociological/political agendas.

Otherwise, I find this to be a generally worthwhile publication, but do be on your guard. =)

Although, it would be nice to have known which year it was published. Maybe it was there and I missed it. Otherwise, I am happy with the whole process.