Sir William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-1769) stands as the first great effort to reduce the English common law to a unified and rational system. Blackstone demonstrated that the English law as a system of justice was comparable to Roman law and the civil law of the Continent. Clearly and elegantly written, the work achieved immediate renown and exerted a powerful influence on legal education in England and in America which was to last into the late nineteenth century. The book is regarded not only as a legal classic but as a literary masterpiece. Previously available only in an expensive hardcover set, Commentaries on the Laws of England is published here in four separate volumes, each one affordably priced in a paperback edition. These works are facsimiles of the eighteenth-century first edition and are undistorted by later interpolations. Each volume deals with a particular field of law and carries with it an introduction by a leading contemporary scholar. Introducing this second volume, Of the Rights of Things, A. W. Brian Simpson discusses the history of Blackstone's theory of various aspects of property rights—real property, feudalism, estates, titles, personal property, and contracts—and the work of his predecessors.

The nineetenth century was a period of striking developments, and subject to a great pressure of change. This process of change is the primary focus of the book. Organised into a series of thematic chapters, Black and MacRaild's wide-ranging text offers the reader an analysis of numerous spheres of human history: politics, empire and warfare; economy, society and population; religion and culture. The book also offers considered treatment of Scotland, Wales and Ireland, with a truly British (as opposed to English) perspective maintained throughout. With numerous illustrations, helpful explanatory tables, boxes and textual inserts, as well as a list of further reading with each chapter, Ninteetenth Century Britain is an excellent introductory text book for students of this most vital period in British history.

Originally published in 1929, this volume discusses the early effects of the industrial revolution – the condition of the cotton spinners, the hardships for labouring children, the overcrowded prisons and other brutal punishments. At this time the principle branch of local government was the Poor Law and this book discusses how, in the monumental task of providing workhouses for the destitute, the England of the eighteenth century had completely failed. As well as social history, the book also covers military and political history.

To China and Latin America, often regarded as central components of a British 'informal empire'.

An interdisciplinary examination of nineteenth-century British capitalism, its architects, and its critics

First published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew's Very Short Introduction to Nineteenth-Century Britain is a sharp but subtle account of remarkable economic and social change and an even more remarkable political stability. Britain in 1789 was overwhelmingly rural, agrarian, multilingual, and almost half Celtic. By 1914, when it faced its greatest test since the defeat of Napoleon, it was largely urban and English. Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew show the forces behind Britain's rise to its imperial zenith, and the continuing tensions within the nations and classes of the 'union state'. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This highly original synthesis is a clear and stimulating assessment of nineteenth-century British women. It aims to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the key historiographical debates and issues, placing particular emphasis upon recent, revisionist research. The book highlights not merely the ideologies and economic circumstances which shaped women's lives, but highlights the sheer diversity of women's own experiences and identities. In so doing, it presents a positive but nuanced interpretation of women's roles within their own families and communities, as well as stressing women's enormous contribution to the making of contemporary British culture and society.