The law of England underwent major changes under the energetic leadership of the Plantagenet kings. This scholarly work traces and outlines this most fascinating and actually entertaining period in legal history.

Before the acts chronicled here, the business of law enforcement in all its various forms, both civil and criminal, was a rather haphazard and local affair. Magical ordeals, often administered by the clergy, and probably fixed by them to reach what they thought the proper outcome, were a major method of trial. Noblemen could fend off charges by their inferiors by swearing they didn't do it, and finding enough people to swear that they believed 'em. Disputes between nobles were as often as not settled by the sword, in either actual battle or ritual combat.

The Plantagenet kings made this imperfect system obsolete, not by legislating it out of existence, but by offering a superior product. They introduced the grand and petit jury, whose ultimate origins are obscure, but which may trace back to the Scandinavian ancestors of the Normans. New forms of litigation were set up beside the old ones, only these led to the royally instituted jury rather than the old forms of trial by oaths, magic, or battle.

And, having this parallel system in place, attorneys were careful to frame their pleadings so as to bring their litigation within the ambit of the new trials, rather than the old ones. These basic legal reforms, helped along by certain legal fictions made necessary to achieve the desired result, became the foundation of a legal system more suited to a national state with a central royal government, rather than the patchwork jurisdictions of feudalism.

This fascinating story is told in all its detail in these old but still intriguing books.

In translating Shakespeare to comic book form Ian Pollock must interpet stage direction and consider character development as a director might. To read Shakespeare is to miss both the aural experience and the visual, and necessaraly each players interpretation of his/her role. This comic book format helps replace some of that which is lost. Pollock's interpretation is excellent, and his illustrative style captures the ugliness of Lear very well. One does long for beauty in his illustrations from time to time, but on the whole his interpretation works. What is most facinating perhaps is pollock's appeal to children. The visual ellement helps illucidate the text and make difficult scenes intelligable to children. Middle School aged children will have little difficulty understanding and being facinated by this rich and wonderful play

I am a theatre arts instructor and I feel that this book is an excellent introduction to Shakespeare's plays. I feel, as do many other people in my field, that the plays of William Shakespeare are meant to be seen as opposed to read. The comic book format gives you the best of both worlds. I have given this book to students who claim not to be able to understand Shakespeare and they literally tear through this book. Very high marks as far as this Professor is concerned!!!

This book beautifully illuminates the hardships and struggles that stood in the way of Jackson Pollock in his early years. This book tells the true story about his struggle to get the recognition he deserved and his courage in the face of adverse reviews. I think it beautifully illustrates how trying to make as an artist isn't easy and portrays it through the example of Jackson Pollock. This is the most descriptive and best out of all 30 books on Jackson Pollock I have read.

This book is truley a beginner book. VERY beginner. Since I have had a little expirience, I am always looking for new patterns and ideas. The instructions are clear and helpful for someone who has never woven before. So if you are just interested in a very basic, in and out, got to start somewhere course, this book is for you. Basketwork is beautifully illustrated with very clear instructions and a pretty wide range of projects. However, many of the projects would fall more into the catagory of "crafts" rather than "basketmaking"; like the fish mobile and a wreath. I feel like a better beginner book for someone who is interested in mainly making baskets, is Lynn Silers`, The Basket Book. Still, I think this book is a nice addition to a collection and is beautiful enough to put out on the coffe table.

This book has very easy to moderately complex patterns for baskets made of reed & willow. The discussion of different basketry materials is especially good.

well, this must be the case considering how terrible this guide is. Even though the authors claim to have PhDs, they have no clue about even introductory micro or macroeconomics. Their questions must be in some sort of secret code because I can't understand them! Their answer explanations are often wrong and the book is covered with mistakes and errors. If you get utterly frustrated doing their tests, don't worry - the actual test is nothing like it. Just throw this book into the garbage where it belongs and use ETS's preparatory test guide and the textbooks you used in college to review.

i found many mistakes in this book, including errors in formulas in the preparation chapters and miscalculations in the actual answers, not to mention numerous typos. the historical questions were written in the late 80's and haven't been updated since. and the tests overall are much easier than the real thing, so be careful. unfortunately, there isn't a great variety of econ gre books in the market, but if you can find another one, i'd try that before buying this outdated, badly edited book. [madmp@excite.com]

There are errors in this book, and the focus is off. The writers don't seem to have a good understanding of the GRE economics test, or the desire to find out. I think this book is sold simply by virtue of its title and the absence of any other test guide on the market. The best preparation is to use a good summary of the relevant economics concepts (which I had to prepare myself since I couldn't find any other GRE economics guidebook) and to practise on the actual test that ETS has put out. This approach served me well. Feel free to e-mail me at radagrawal@hotmail.com if you have any further questions.