Is Eating People Wrong?: Great Legal Cases and How they Shaped the World

This contained more legalize than I expected. However it was an easy read with an interesting point of view.

I've put 4 stars here as a caution to others...my "personal rating" is 5 stars, however. The point here being that you have to have a a curiosity about the history of common law to really enjoy the book. The title refers to a particularly lurid case in the 19th century and I suppose that will attract some potential readers. . .probably the same people who slow down to gawk at highway accidents. Good enough, but the "rule of law" finding in a Canadian case or the basis of the ruling in "Brown vs. Board of Education" is far more riveting if you are interested in the history of law. Above all, the author's discussion of how social and political forces have shaped judicial interpretations of legal precedent makes this book a great read.

If you are looking for a pre law book this is great. Informative yet very easy to digest and very interesting.

This is one of the Best 50 non tech books ive ever read. Very relevant even for non lawyers. The topics are not picnic.

A mish mash of significant legal cases pulled together by a law professor with aspirations of jargon-free literary writing. In reality, a mis-titled book (only one case about cannibalism — title used for shock value), with a number of folksily and clumsily written summations (without significant citation) of court cases that could be more clearly gleaned from their Wikipedia pages. Badly in need of an editor. Super cool concept with disappointing results.

It seems like a new book!very good condition! thank you!!

the book discusses, in an entertaining and also sound way, 8 cases from common law countries that collectively provide insight into how the common law court systems work. The cases cover different areas of law and provide a decent description of both the social context in which the cases were argued and also the legal principles that were at issue. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in law, particularly law students.

I came across Is Eating People Wrong?: Great Legal Cases and How They Shaped the World by Allan C. Hutchinson while reading the reference sources in another book. I always read a book cover to cover, starting with the cataloguing information and ending with the bibliography, where I peruse all the titles to find out more to read on the topic. Hutchinson, whom I have met a number of times since he works with my partner, has compiled a collection of eight legal cases which have had a fundamental effect on western law to this day.I had wanted to read Is Eating People Wrong? based on the case that inspired the title, R v Dudley and Stephens. This case, which put two men who were stranded on a lifeboat without any provisions on trial for murder for killing one of their dying shipmates in order to cannibalize him, tested the theory of the law of necessity. This case had fascinated me and so did its legal outcome. Does one have the right to kill another in order to save oneself? What precedent might this case set if one did?The background circumstances leading up to each case are described in exciting detail. That's the point I liked best about Is Eating People Wrong?; the legal talk afterward I could not always grasp or agree to, although it was rare that I finished a chapter feeling this way. Hutchinson states that the tenets of common law are not carved in stone. They aren't waiting to be chipped at to be exposed by lawyers via court cases. Common law is ever-evolving and changes with the times. What might have been acceptable and supported by judicial rulings, such as segregation in schools, is now viewed as a relic from the dark ages.Hutchinson also made very interesting reading out of property law in his analysis of Pierson v. Post, wherein one has to assign ownership of a deceased wild fox that one man was in pursuit via hunting (Post) while another man not involved in the hunt ended up killing (Pierson). Hutchinson ended Is Eating People Wrong? with an analysis of the Miranda warning ("You have the right to remain silent..." and so on).Is Eating People Wrong? was written with a minimum of legal jargon and is a compact introduction to some of the cases that have shaped the common law we know today.

For my “adopted” daughter… who is about to start pre-law studies in the fall…. This book is a great introduction to legal cases that shaped the legal world.It was a gift to her after she announced that she accepted the offer from the university for this particular programme.

For a reader who is not familiar with the legal system, this book is revelatory. The author's choice of "great legal cases" is perfect and uncovers the fluid and adjustable nature of the Common Law. For example, just reading the title of the book "Is Eating People Wrong?", you'd think that the only "right answer" to this question is "yes, eating people is definitely wrong". But after reading the specific case the author talks about, you'd think thrice before answering that question. What would you do if you were out of food in the middle of nowhere and your tasty friend is about to die? While it might seem a trivial matter for a usual reader, it was a legal hell for some in the real life. And this legal hell was not only for the people directly implicated in the case, but also for those who had to decide how to judge the perplexing cases like these. One new law or exception to the law might have some gruesome consequences in the future. Allan C. Hutchinson seems to have identified the solution to this problem: the Common Law has to be flexible and adjust to the needs of the society. However, the author does not, as he confirms in the book, call for this solution to be applied to the entire legal system, only the Common Law. Unfortunately, the author does not go any further to explain why he does not think the solution is universal. Maybe this is going to be the subject of another book... Overall, the book was full of the great old legal stories that still matter to our society. It was a pleasure to read about them.

such an interesting read. I love the case studies provided

Great read

Love this book!