Alan Watson 
Sources of Law, Legal Change, and Ambiguity 

Why is the law notoriously unclear, arcane, slow to change in the face of changing circumstances? In this sweeping comparative analysis of the lawmaking process from ancient Rome to the present day, Alan Watson argues that the answer has largely to do with the mixed ancestry of modern law, the confusion of sources—custom, legislation, scholarly writing, and judicial precedent—from which it derives.

About the author

Alan Watson is Earnest P. Rogers Professor of Law, University of Georgia. He is the author of many books of legal history, including Rome of the Twelve Tables; Roman Slave Law; and Failures of the Legal Imagination, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press.