An illuminating guide to the pervasiveness and intricacies of law and an ideal invitation for those interested in its mechanics, purposes and functions. It is a thorough guide to a mysterious and complex institution and profession.

Alfred William Brian Simpson, referred to as Brian Simpson, was a British legal historian and the emeritus Charles F. and Edith J. Clyne Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. He was born in Kendal, Cumbria, England. Simpson was educated at Oakham School and The Queen's College, Oxford, where he took a First in Law. He was a fellow and tutor of Lincoln College, Oxford from 1955-1973, before various professorships at the Universities of Kent (1975-1983), Chicago, Michigan, Cambridge and Toronto.