From the subject's greatest historian, the story of law in America serves as a powerful instrument for exposing the struggles for power and justice that have shaped this country, from its birth pangs to the present. Throughout American history, laws have been more than dry words in dusty books; they've been a reflection of who we are, what we value, who has power. In The Law in America, Lawrence Friedman makes the law's significance sing. In his hands, the story of law in America serves as a powerful instrument for exposing the struggles for power and justice that have shaped this country, from its birth pangs to the present. Throughout America's history, our laws have been a reflection of who we are, of what we value, of who has control. They embody our society's genetic code. In the masterful hands of the subject's greatest living historian, the story of the evolution of our laws serves to lay bare the deciding struggles over power and justice that have shaped this country from its birth pangs to the present. Law in America is a supreme example of the historian's art, its brevity a testament to the great elegance and wit of its composition.