The Rule of Laws: A 4,000-Year Quest to Order the World (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781541617940)

From ancient Mesopotamia to today, the epic story of how humans have used laws to forge civilizations 

Rulers throughout history have used laws to impose order. But laws were not simply instruments of power and social control. They also offered ordinary people a way to express their diverse visions for a better world. 

In The Rule of Laws, Oxford scholar Fernanda Pirie traces the rise and fall of the sophisticated legal systems underpinning ancient empires and religious traditions, while also showing how common people--tribal assemblies, merchants, farmers--called on laws to define their communities, regulate trade, and build civilizations. Although legal principles originating in Western Europe now seem to dominate the globe, the variety of the world's laws has long been almost as great as the variety of its societies. What truly unites human beings, Pirie argues, is our very faith that laws can produce justice, combat oppression, and create order from chaos. 

Author: Fernanda Pirie
ISBN-10: 1541617940
ISBN-13: 9781541617940
Publisher: Basic Books
Language: English
Published: 11/09/2021
Pages: 576
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.80lbs
Size: 9.29h x 6.22w x 1.97d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 10/15/2021
Library Journal 10/22/2021 pg. 1