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passifloraincarnata's review
challenging
informative
reflective
5.0
Fascinating survey of different legal systems, past and present, how they functioned, their strengths and weaknesses. Covers the legal systems of Imperial China, medieval Iceland, Ireland, Ye Olde Englande, the Romani, Somalia, and ancient Rome, and looks at the problems of revenge, perverse incentives, enforcement, deterrence, civil vs. criminal complaints, and other things. Avoids romanticising medieval Iceland as many libertarians are wont to do. Dry reading for long stretches, but rewarding for the persistent.
adamchalmers's review against another edition
5.0
Really fascinating look at how different societies have worked. I read a lot of sci-fi because I love imagining other ways to configure society. This book does the same thing, with the added benefit of looking at how people faced realistic challenges and either surmounted them or failed.
Friedman takes a slightly more abstract view of "legal systems" than modern readers would think of, a priori. In his view, a legal system is anything that lets people resolve disputes without violence. He looks at civilization-scale legal systems, like the early English or Irish systems, Icelandic feuds or Somali kin-insurance, as well as small ethnic/social legal systems embedded in larger civilizations (e.g. Jewish or Romani or Amish law), and even smaller (pirate law, the informal law of prison inmates). They're all different, and their goals, society, and technology all affect how they resolve disputes. I learned a lot and it definitely opened my mind as to other ways we could tweak our society.
Friedman takes a slightly more abstract view of "legal systems" than modern readers would think of, a priori. In his view, a legal system is anything that lets people resolve disputes without violence. He looks at civilization-scale legal systems, like the early English or Irish systems, Icelandic feuds or Somali kin-insurance, as well as small ethnic/social legal systems embedded in larger civilizations (e.g. Jewish or Romani or Amish law), and even smaller (pirate law, the informal law of prison inmates). They're all different, and their goals, society, and technology all affect how they resolve disputes. I learned a lot and it definitely opened my mind as to other ways we could tweak our society.
fenchurch's review
informative
slow-paced
Some chapters were fascinating and others were so dry that I eventually gave up after several re-reads and skimmed. 😬
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