Central to the development of the American legal system, writes Professor Finkelman in Slavery & the Law, is the institution of slavery. It informs us not only about early concepts of race and property, but about the nature of American democracy itself. Prominent historians of slavery and legal scholars analyze the intricate relationship between slavery, race, and the law from the earliest Black Codes in colonial America to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law and the Dred Scott decision prior to the Civil War. Slavery & the Law's wide-ranging essays focus on comparative slave law, auctioneering practices, rules of evidence, and property rights, as well as issues of criminality, punishment, and constitutional law. What emerges from this multi-faceted portrait is a complex legal system designed to ensure the property rights of slave-holders and to institutionalize racism. The ultimate result was to strengthen the institution of slavery in the midst of a growing trend toward democracy in the mid-nineteenth-century Atlantic community.

The Art of Leadership is based on two ideas: 1. Leadership will take place to the extent the leader cares about the work to be done. Equally important, the leader must care about people. Neither of these qualities is sufficient without the other, and neither can be false. People know when the leader cares. When the leader is committed to the task and is concerned about people, these qualities serve as magnets and motivators to followers, and their potential for achievement becomes enormous. 2. Leadership is an art that can be developed through mastery of nine key areas of success. The successful leader must possess knowledge and skills in the following areas: understanding leadership variables, the power of vision, the importance of ethics, the empowerment of people, leadership principles, understanding people, multiplying effectiveness, developing others, and performance management. The difference between most other leadership texts and the Art of Leadership can be compared to the difference between a lecture and seminar. Although both are good educational vehicles, the lecture is better for conveying large amounts of information, while the seminar is better for developing skills and attitudes. A good lecture is interesting and builds knowledge, while a good seminar is stimulating and builds competency. Without sacrificing either theoretical foundation or important content, the 6th edition of The Art of Leadership emphasizes the interactive, seminar approach to learning. The 7th edition remains reader-centered, research-based, practical, and personalized. The Instructor Resources for the 7th edition have been vastly enhanced, including the PowerPoint and test bank.

"The book is carefully organized and well written, and it deals with a question that is still of great importance--what is the relationship of the Bill of Rights to the states."--"Journal of American History"

"Curtis effectively settles a serious legal debate: whether the framers of the 14th Amendment intended to incorporate the Bill of Rights guarantees and thereby inhibit state action. Taking on a formidable array of constitutional scholars, . . . he rebuts their argument with vigor and effectiveness, conclusively demonstrating the legitimacy of the incorporation thesis. . . . A bold, forcefully argued, important study."--"Library Journal"