Product Description

Written in Lord Denning's familiar vivid, staccato style, Landmarks in the Law discusses cases and characters whose names will be known to all readers, grouped together under headings such as High Treason, Freedom of the Press, and Murder. Thus, for example, the chapter on High Treason tells the stories of Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Roger Casement, and William Joyce - three very different cases, the first occurring nearly 350 years before the last, but each one raising constitutional issues of the greatest importance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #177106 in Books
• Published on: 1984-10-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 412 pages

About the Author
Lord Alfred Denning, Baron Denning (Dec.)

Customer Reviews

Well I liked it...
When you begin reading this book, it is important to bear in mind that Lord Denning was a senior judge, and therefore is not likely to write in the same way that you or I would. Think of musty rooms in an Oxbridge college, a decanter of brandy, and an open fire, and you'll be some way towards the mind-set needed to appreciate this book.

That said, it is more approachable than many other judges would have been able to make it, and commentators often ascribe this to Denning's quirky sense of humour.

The book itself is primarily made up of descriptions of the cases that have had such impact on the common law in use in the UK and abroad, that they have become the landmarks of the title. When I say descriptions, I don't mean dry court reports, but rather commentaries setting-out the backgrounds and facts of the cases, and the effects they've had on the law.

I'm a (mature) law student myself, so have an interest in such matters - how wide an audience such a book has is difficult to say, but I suspect that if you enjoy legal theory and history you won't go far wrong with this book.

Not a textbook - an easy read
Lord Denning, Master of the Rolls for over twenty years and a Law Lord for a few years before that, was perhaps the greatest judge of the 20th century. To some, he set the law free from excessive rigidity, taking it back towards the eighteenth century and reinventing it as a flexible system of justice and conscience. To others, he came to destroy the common law, and set bad precedents. Either way, he was a dominant figure who played some role in many of the most important cases of the century.

Lord Denning's prose is famously idiosyncratic. The sentences are short. Often without verbs. It is infectious. Hemingway's sentences are baroque by comparison. This means that he achieves great clarity; but once in a while a change of tempo would be restful; a longer sentence that meanders slowly - with Gibbonesque intermediate or subordinate clauses and phrases - towards a peaceful close, and then, just when you think it is over, carries on, the end only eventually, after many commas, being reached, would provide a useful pause.

This is not a casebook. The author assumes no legal knowledge on the part of the reader. He is more interested in discussing the context of the cases, and their consequences. Almost all of them have political aspects; most in some way concern the rights of the state against the citizen. The books covers treason, torture, bribery, the development of equity, martyrdom, freedom of assembly, divorce, slavery and internment, terrorism, freedom from arrest without law, freedom of the press, religious persecution, and murder.

To me, two of the most interesting discussions are the defences of the majority judgments in Liversidge v Anderson (detention without trial) and in DPP v Smith (intention to kill). I have only seen either judgment roundly condemned, and I hadn't realised they could be defended. The first case is once again relevant, in the context of current UK anti-terrorist policy. (I was not persuaded by his defence.) Other interesting discussions include the Profumo Inquiry (which Lord Denning conducted); a passionate plea for tolerance between Jews and Christians; and a discussion of the limits of diplomatic immunity, in which he cannot seem to make up his mind.

The informal, narrative approach, combined with the clarity of his prose, make the book is an easy read. It is suitable for people with an amateur interest in the law, and for schoolchildren and students who might be thinking of studying it. And it's of interest to lawyers.