The Rule of Laws cover art

The Rule of Laws

How 4,000 Years of Law Shaped the World as We Know It

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Rule of Laws

By: Fernanda Pirie
Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

About this listen

The laws now enforced throughout the world are almost all modelled on systems developed in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. During 200 years of colonial rule, Europeans exported their laws everywhere they could. But they weren't filling a void: in many places, they displaced traditions that were already ancient when Vasco Da Gama first arrived in India. Even the Romans were inspired by earlier precedents.

Where, then, did it all begin? And what has law been and done over the course of human history? In The Rule of Laws, pioneering anthropologist Fernanda Pirie traces the development of the world's great legal systems - Chinese, Indian, Roman and Islamic - and the innumerable smaller traditions they inspired. At the heart of the story is a paradox: how did the pronouncements of the powerful became a vital weapon in ordinary people's fight for justice?

©2022 Fernanda Pirie (P)2022 Audible, Ltd History Law World Colonial Period Imperialism
All stars
Most relevant
18 odd hours about law....
but it was a worthwhile listen. even if you have it on in the background, you will pick up something useful or interesting about the law. be it the first written laws by Hammurabi, how Islamic law, or Chinese law works, how European law evolved from roman law to English Common law. finally modern contract law.
comprehensive. Will probably dive into common law again later

extremely long, extremely detailed and informative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fernanda has chosen a perfect narrator for her writing style which has you gripped immediately. There is so much research and information in every chapter it really is an excellent choice.

Absolutely brilliant !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
great book it really does go into a lot of detail, it's a shame the chapters aren't named on the app and you could cherry pick. probably worth getting a paper copy too for those purposes

so detailed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.