The first contemporary history of the development of American law. A survey of the nature and success of the institution of American law and its agencies and legislative bodies from roughly 1740-1940. Considered ..".a pioneering attempt to evaluate in broad terms the contributions to the development of American law made by its five chief formative agencies, the legislatures, the courts, the constitution-making process, the bar and the executive." William F. Fracher, Mo. L. Rev. 15:332-333. By the major legal historian whose writings led ..". scholars from other disciplines... to look at law with a fresh and sometimes illuminating eye." Friedman, A History of American Law 595. An important work that has been highly regarded for its social perspective, Henry Steele Commager called it ..".a pioneer work in this badly neglected field ...combine(s) scholarship, insight, and narrative and analytical skill in a striking manner."