Description: Through a mix of different historiographical methods, a broad understanding of legal and social history, and the lens of plural comparative contexts, this collection tells us much about continuity and change in a critical transition period (1763-1848) for Louisiana and the Floridas, as well as for the modern era.
Brief description: Vernon Valentine Palmer is Thomas Pickles Professor of Law and Director of the Eason Weinmann Center for International and Comparative Law, Tulane University. He is a titular member of the International Academy of Comparative Law, recipient of the Légion d'Honneur, and the founder and president of the World Society of Mixed Jurisdictions. His research interests mainly concern comparative law, civil law, and legal history. His recent publications include Mixed Jurisdictions Worldwide: The Third Legal Family (CUP 2ed 2012) and Through the Codes Darkly: Slave Law and Civil Law in Louisiana (Lawbook Exchange 2012).
Review Quotes:
"The French Revolution gave us not only the concepts of nationalism and popular sovereignty but many of the legal concepts still with us today. How they materialized in a "mixed jurisdiction" of common and civilian law in post-Purchase Louisiana, during clashes less about culture than conflicts of interest, forms the heart of this thought-provoking collection. You won't find a more succinct and lucid exposition of these and other knotty subjects between the covers of many other books."
Lawrence N. Powell, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, Tulane University