The legal history or legal study of law is the history of how laws have changed and why it has changed so significantly over time. It deals with the interpretation of laws across various societal settings, from ancient times right up to our own times. Legal history also works within the broader context of socio-cultural history and is closely linked to the evolution of civilisations.Many historians have produced works on this wide topic and one of the most popular books is The History of Civilisations:
An Introduction by Anthony Craine. It was written in 1967 and features chapters that focus on Britain, America, India, France, Germany and South Africa. The book covers what legal history really is, how it is constructed and who decides what is legal and what is not within a legal environment. There are many important works that have been produced on this topic and one of these are Thebes.Another is Rutterer's The Formation of European Law, which traces the legal history back to the eighth century and concentrates upon developments in Italy and Spain.
It traces legal institutions down to the period after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Then there islands puebus' The Making of French Law, which traces the legal history to the nineteenth century. And last but certainly not least is Becker's Laws and Legislation of the European Union.These are just a few of the numerous works that have been produced in recent years that deal with legal history. Many universities also conduct research into this aspect of the law.
One of these is at the University of Glasgow. In order to broaden students' knowledge into this area of study, the university often holds special events that bring scholars together with legal professionals from across the university to discuss current legal issues and possible solutions. The Glasgow event is called the Forum on Law and Society. This is a regular event and happens every year.
However, while the work of legal historians can be fascinating and entertaining, legal research is also quite involved and it is for this reason that professional legal historians often do not deal with cases that they are not personally interested in. Instead, these lawyers normally work for a legal firm that is engaged in one type of case over another. For example, they might be working on a case involving workers compensation when they find out that the workers have committed a crime against their employer. However, they might decide to work on another case, in this case regarding child abuse.In any event, legal history is quite a complicated subject.
If you do decide to pursue such a degree program at an Illinois university, make sure that you are prepared to do a lot of reading and studying. In fact, Urbana-Champaign as a city is full of books on this topic and many law students become addicted to reading these legal histories. So, if you are interested in learning more about this field and how it came into existence, then perhaps you should consider a Urbana-Champaign based law school to study legal history. You will then be able to earn your bachelor's degree and begin your career in this field of study.