Princeton political scientist Walter Murphy analyzed the role of Congress in trying to manage an activist Supreme Court at a time of seismic change in the law and evolving interplay between these powerful institutions. As the original dustjacket offered, this is a “first-rate assessment of the delicate balance of power between Congress and the Supreme Court as it affects the American political process.” The new republication of this classic work adds a 2014 Foreword by law professor Thomas Baker, who notes the continuing relevance of Murphy’s insights: “The principal object lesson he offers is that what happened in the 1950s happened before and will happen again, that separation of powers…

Considered a classic of comparative law and legal systems, this book has been twice reprinted since its first appearance 50 years ago, and is now available in a high-quality digital edition. No work has so openly and extensively—using hands-on observations by the leading legal figures of the time—compared appellate courts in two common law countries. While much comparative work contrasts civil law systems with those of the common law, this study teased out substantial, impactful differences even within two traditional common law systems. The original project grew out of an intensive experiment in comparing the U.S. and English appellate courts, by which highly recognized American and English judges and lawyers…

Novelist Sybille Bedford was a German-born writer of Jewish heritage who, as a refugee from Germany, lived and wrote in Italy, France, the United States, and England. In this compelling classic, she watched courts closely—and with remarkable insight—in England, France, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. There, she found stories of human frailty and impulse, even at the bench and bar. Part of the Classics of Law & Society Series, but written for a wide, U.S. audience.