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 Customer Reviews
Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.
In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays!
Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled.
Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one!
Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.
I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live.
EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money!
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Customer Reviews
Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.
In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays!
Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled.
Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one!
Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.
I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live.
EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money!
Excellent, 25 Mar 2008
I have studied all aspects of Tort, Family, Business, Criminal, Property, Land, Contract Law and Civil and Criminal Litigation at Level 3 and every word I have wanted to look up has been in this dictionary. It has been my life line throughout my studies. A must have for all law students at every level.
Excellent for Uni Students (Year 1 and 2), 26 Jan 2008
I have just started my LLB(Hons) OU Law course and have used this many times. Great for any student studying Law at GCSE or LLB.
Great Stuff!!!
Love it!!!!!, 10 Jan 2008
No law student should be without a law dictionary... I bought this one last September because the last edition couldn't take another year of use!
Use my dictionary all the time, first place I go for every form of work!
Not so useful for Scottish Law Students, 14 Dec 2007
Hmm... The differences in terminology between the Scots and English Law systems is very evident in this book. I've owned it for 18 months, and more often than not it doesn't have what I need.
There are better (free!) online legal dictionary services.
Excellent - even my boss think's it's great!, 05 Oct 2003
I recently started work as a Legal Secretary for a firm of solicitors and wanted a book which gives the correct spellings and meanings of legal terms - this does the job perfectly. I refer to it a lot and my boss, a Partner in the firm, is so impressed with it that even he refers to it from time to time! It is well deserving of five stars.
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Customer Reviews
Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.
In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays! Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled. Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one! Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.
I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live. EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money! Excellent, 25 Mar 2008
I have studied all aspects of Tort, Family, Business, Criminal, Property, Land, Contract Law and Civil and Criminal Litigation at Level 3 and every word I have wanted to look up has been in this dictionary. It has been my life line throughout my studies. A must have for all law students at every level. Excellent for Uni Students (Year 1 and 2), 26 Jan 2008
I have just started my LLB(Hons) OU Law course and have used this many times. Great for any student studying Law at GCSE or LLB.
Great Stuff!!! Love it!!!!!, 10 Jan 2008
No law student should be without a law dictionary... I bought this one last September because the last edition couldn't take another year of use!
Use my dictionary all the time, first place I go for every form of work! Not so useful for Scottish Law Students, 14 Dec 2007
Hmm... The differences in terminology between the Scots and English Law systems is very evident in this book. I've owned it for 18 months, and more often than not it doesn't have what I need.
There are better (free!) online legal dictionary services. Excellent - even my boss think's it's great!, 05 Oct 2003
I recently started work as a Legal Secretary for a firm of solicitors and wanted a book which gives the correct spellings and meanings of legal terms - this does the job perfectly. I refer to it a lot and my boss, a Partner in the firm, is so impressed with it that even he refers to it from time to time! It is well deserving of five stars. Superb , 04 Apr 2008
This is the leading modern text in criminology, comprehensive and authoritative, written by 35 distinguished British contributors. The editors are Mike Maguire, Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University, Rod Morgan, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales and Professor Emeritus at Bristol University, and Robert Reiner, Professor of Criminology at the London School of Economics.
It has five parts: the history and theory of criminology, the social construction of crime and crime control, the dimensions of crime, the forms of crime, and reactions to crime. It covers research and policy developments and their relationship to race, gender, youth culture and political economy.
The evidence is that the serious violent crime rate is much higher in Thatcherite political economies than in welfarist ones. As Reiner writes, there is a plethora of material confirming that crime of all kinds is linked to inequality, relative deprivation, and unemployment. So, for example, the rise in crime in Britain in the 1980s was due to what happened in the 1980s: naturally Thatcher blamed it on what had happened 20 years before. And it was the 1980s, not the 1960s, that saw the dramatic rise in opiate use here.
The evidence shows that states with higher welfare spending have less crime and lower imprisonment rates. For every dollar spent, Michigans Head Start welfare programme brought $17 of benefit by cutting crime, thereby cutting the numbers imprisoned and thus the costs of imprisonment.
Of course, recognising that crime has root causes does not stop us exploring all possible avenues of crime reduction, victim support and penal reform. Nor does it mean ignoring offenders moral responsibility. Understanding does not cancel the need for judgment.
Thatcherite political economies also have more punitive penal policies. Yet welfarist Sweden has had a smaller rise in crime than Britain, while having a less punitive penal policy. Similarly, Finland has dramatically cut its prison numbers, without increasing crime.
Growing economic inequality and social polarisation increase crime and therefore insecurity and fear. We cannot afford to leave the economy, or society or security to the market. We need to take responsibility for all aspects of our society.
Absolutely outstanding., 22 Jul 2007
Right. I guess I should precis this review by stating quite explicitly that I'm a raging criminology geek. I was determined not to write a review until I had read the OHC cover-to-cover. And it has been well worth the experience. I went into the second year of a Criminology BSc with no criminological background, and decided to spend a couple of months before the start of term reading the third edition cover to cover. I feel that the background the OHC gave me provided a springboard for getting a first. The outstanding wealth and depth of knowledge has to be seen to be believed - I would happily be giving it away as a birthday present left, right and center if it wasn't for the sure and certain knowledge that doing so would get me a hearty slap from my non-criminological family.
I am starting a Masters (hopefully leading into a PhD) this October; given that the 3rd edition seemed to give me a huge amount, I decided to do my best to read the 4th edition cover to cover before October. My copy is now dog-eared, much-loved, and covered liberally in pencil scrawls. I feel far, far more comfortable at the prospect of going back into academia having spent just over a year in very non-academic work.
The one real tragedy for me is the conflation of Loraine Gelsthorpe's and Frances Heidensohn's chapters. In the third edition, they respectively covered Feminism and Criminology and Gender and Crime. In the fourth edition, they co-author a single chapter on Gender and Crime. I personally find it deeply frustrating that two beautifully written, detailed and very discrete chapters have been merged into one. Loraine Gelsthorpe's chapter on feminism and criminology was my introduction to feminist criminology - something I have every intention of carrying into my MPhil / (hopefully) PhD. I found the third edition's coverage of both gender AND feminism both highly appropriate, and absolutely fascinating. The conflation of the two chapters into one to my mind leaves something seriously lacking. And maybe the omission of a chapter on feminism and criminology says something and makes a statement in its own right. The chapter on gender and crime is very well written and contains aspects of both preceding chapters; but the idea that two discrete chapters each of forty pages can be combined into one chapter of forty pages without significant loss is ridiculous. I would recommend with all my heart that anyone with an interest in gender and crime / feminist criminology at least borrows a copy of the third edition. There is a wealth of additional colour and texture there that substantially fired up my interest in criminology.
Aside from that, the online chapters do add something invaluable to the fourth edition. It is a self-contained, beautifully comprehensive and more-than-sufficient edition in itself; but the addition of Jock Young, Barbara Hudson, David Garland and Ken Pease's chapters online do add yet another level of depth. Jock Young and David Garland in particular were two of the chapters that stood out the most to me from the third edition, and two of the chapters that I have gone back to time and time again. The OHC is richer for having them available. At the risk of harping on, though - I wish that Dr. Gelsthorpe's and Professor Heidensohn's chapters were on the OHC website too. They really are the one substantial omission in my eyes. And that - I promise - is the last of that particular tub-thumping spree.
In brief, I cannot recommend this book enough. To anyone, but particularly budding / current criminologists. There is such a wealth of detail in there, from the first two introductory chapters (sociological and psychological approaches) right through to the last two on community penalties and imprisonment. It is not heavygoing; it is not unduly challenging. With the possible exception of Media-Made Criminality, that is - which frankly lost me. Huge reams of statistics with remarkably little coherence to my eyes. Oddly enough, I felt the very next chapter (political economy, crime and criminal justice) is one of the best in the book, and by the self-same author.
Jock Young pulls off something similar - the only other chapter in the book to mildly vex me was the one on Cultural Criminology (done far better - though admittedly in a rather more inaccessible way - by Jeff Ferrell in the book Criminological Perspectives). And yet Crime and Social Exclusion in the third edition remains one of the most solid and interesting chapters in either book.
All in all, I've wittered enough. If your degree / course is worth thirty-whatever quid to you and you're willing to put in the effort, then go for it. If it isn't and / or you aren't, then don't. This book has the hallmark of quality stamped firmly right through it, and there's certainly nothing else criminological out there that can hope to compete in terms of either quality or value for money. BUY IT!, 18 Nov 2006
This book is a must have for criminology students. I bought this book and 2 others but have not needed to use those. This has everything you need to know and more. Essential for criminologists, 18 Nov 2006
I love this book. It seriously helped me through my criminology degree at uni - and I ended up with a 1st. It covers just about every topic you need. Definately a very wise investment. A MUST HAVE BOOK FOR STUDENTS, 03 Feb 2004
An extremely well written and laid out book from Oxford University Press. It is a must have item for any student of criminology, criminal justice and policing studies etc. I can't remember how many essays and exams this book (and the previous edition) has got me through but with out I wouldn't have done as well as I did. Expensive? Yes but you won't regret buying it.
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Customer Reviews
Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.
In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays! Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled. Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one! Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.
I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live. EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money! Excellent, 25 Mar 2008
I have studied all aspects of Tort, Family, Business, Criminal, Property, Land, Contract Law and Civil and Criminal Litigation at Level 3 and every word I have wanted to look up has been in this dictionary. It has been my life line throughout my studies. A must have for all law students at every level. Excellent for Uni Students (Year 1 and 2), 26 Jan 2008
I have just started my LLB(Hons) OU Law course and have used this many times. Great for any student studying Law at GCSE or LLB.
Great Stuff!!! Love it!!!!!, 10 Jan 2008
No law student should be without a law dictionary... I bought this one last September because the last edition couldn't take another year of use!
Use my dictionary all the time, first place I go for every form of work! Not so useful for Scottish Law Students, 14 Dec 2007
Hmm... The differences in terminology between the Scots and English Law systems is very evident in this book. I've owned it for 18 months, and more often than not it doesn't have what I need.
There are better (free!) online legal dictionary services. Excellent - even my boss think's it's great!, 05 Oct 2003
I recently started work as a Legal Secretary for a firm of solicitors and wanted a book which gives the correct spellings and meanings of legal terms - this does the job perfectly. I refer to it a lot and my boss, a Partner in the firm, is so impressed with it that even he refers to it from time to time! It is well deserving of five stars. Superb , 04 Apr 2008
This is the leading modern text in criminology, comprehensive and authoritative, written by 35 distinguished British contributors. The editors are Mike Maguire, Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University, Rod Morgan, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales and Professor Emeritus at Bristol University, and Robert Reiner, Professor of Criminology at the London School of Economics.
It has five parts: the history and theory of criminology, the social construction of crime and crime control, the dimensions of crime, the forms of crime, and reactions to crime. It covers research and policy developments and their relationship to race, gender, youth culture and political economy.
The evidence is that the serious violent crime rate is much higher in Thatcherite political economies than in welfarist ones. As Reiner writes, there is a plethora of material confirming that crime of all kinds is linked to inequality, relative deprivation, and unemployment. So, for example, the rise in crime in Britain in the 1980s was due to what happened in the 1980s: naturally Thatcher blamed it on what had happened 20 years before. And it was the 1980s, not the 1960s, that saw the dramatic rise in opiate use here.
The evidence shows that states with higher welfare spending have less crime and lower imprisonment rates. For every dollar spent, Michigans Head Start welfare programme brought $17 of benefit by cutting crime, thereby cutting the numbers imprisoned and thus the costs of imprisonment.
Of course, recognising that crime has root causes does not stop us exploring all possible avenues of crime reduction, victim support and penal reform. Nor does it mean ignoring offenders moral responsibility. Understanding does not cancel the need for judgment.
Thatcherite political economies also have more punitive penal policies. Yet welfarist Sweden has had a smaller rise in crime than Britain, while having a less punitive penal policy. Similarly, Finland has dramatically cut its prison numbers, without increasing crime.
Growing economic inequality and social polarisation increase crime and therefore insecurity and fear. We cannot afford to leave the economy, or society or security to the market. We need to take responsibility for all aspects of our society.
Absolutely outstanding., 22 Jul 2007
Right. I guess I should precis this review by stating quite explicitly that I'm a raging criminology geek. I was determined not to write a review until I had read the OHC cover-to-cover. And it has been well worth the experience. I went into the second year of a Criminology BSc with no criminological background, and decided to spend a couple of months before the start of term reading the third edition cover to cover. I feel that the background the OHC gave me provided a springboard for getting a first. The outstanding wealth and depth of knowledge has to be seen to be believed - I would happily be giving it away as a birthday present left, right and center if it wasn't for the sure and certain knowledge that doing so would get me a hearty slap from my non-criminological family.
I am starting a Masters (hopefully leading into a PhD) this October; given that the 3rd edition seemed to give me a huge amount, I decided to do my best to read the 4th edition cover to cover before October. My copy is now dog-eared, much-loved, and covered liberally in pencil scrawls. I feel far, far more comfortable at the prospect of going back into academia having spent just over a year in very non-academic work.
The one real tragedy for me is the conflation of Loraine Gelsthorpe's and Frances Heidensohn's chapters. In the third edition, they respectively covered Feminism and Criminology and Gender and Crime. In the fourth edition, they co-author a single chapter on Gender and Crime. I personally find it deeply frustrating that two beautifully written, detailed and very discrete chapters have been merged into one. Loraine Gelsthorpe's chapter on feminism and criminology was my introduction to feminist criminology - something I have every intention of carrying into my MPhil / (hopefully) PhD. I found the third edition's coverage of both gender AND feminism both highly appropriate, and absolutely fascinating. The conflation of the two chapters into one to my mind leaves something seriously lacking. And maybe the omission of a chapter on feminism and criminology says something and makes a statement in its own right. The chapter on gender and crime is very well written and contains aspects of both preceding chapters; but the idea that two discrete chapters each of forty pages can be combined into one chapter of forty pages without significant loss is ridiculous. I would recommend with all my heart that anyone with an interest in gender and crime / feminist criminology at least borrows a copy of the third edition. There is a wealth of additional colour and texture there that substantially fired up my interest in criminology.
Aside from that, the online chapters do add something invaluable to the fourth edition. It is a self-contained, beautifully comprehensive and more-than-sufficient edition in itself; but the addition of Jock Young, Barbara Hudson, David Garland and Ken Pease's chapters online do add yet another level of depth. Jock Young and David Garland in particular were two of the chapters that stood out the most to me from the third edition, and two of the chapters that I have gone back to time and time again. The OHC is richer for having them available. At the risk of harping on, though - I wish that Dr. Gelsthorpe's and Professor Heidensohn's chapters were on the OHC website too. They really are the one substantial omission in my eyes. And that - I promise - is the last of that particular tub-thumping spree.
In brief, I cannot recommend this book enough. To anyone, but particularly budding / current criminologists. There is such a wealth of detail in there, from the first two introductory chapters (sociological and psychological approaches) right through to the last two on community penalties and imprisonment. It is not heavygoing; it is not unduly challenging. With the possible exception of Media-Made Criminality, that is - which frankly lost me. Huge reams of statistics with remarkably little coherence to my eyes. Oddly enough, I felt the very next chapter (political economy, crime and criminal justice) is one of the best in the book, and by the self-same author.
Jock Young pulls off something similar - the only other chapter in the book to mildly vex me was the one on Cultural Criminology (done far better - though admittedly in a rather more inaccessible way - by Jeff Ferrell in the book Criminological Perspectives). And yet Crime and Social Exclusion in the third edition remains one of the most solid and interesting chapters in either book.
All in all, I've wittered enough. If your degree / course is worth thirty-whatever quid to you and you're willing to put in the effort, then go for it. If it isn't and / or you aren't, then don't. This book has the hallmark of quality stamped firmly right through it, and there's certainly nothing else criminological out there that can hope to compete in terms of either quality or value for money. BUY IT!, 18 Nov 2006
This book is a must have for criminology students. I bought this book and 2 others but have not needed to use those. This has everything you need to know and more. Essential for criminologists, 18 Nov 2006
I love this book. It seriously helped me through my criminology degree at uni - and I ended up with a 1st. It covers just about every topic you need. Definately a very wise investment. A MUST HAVE BOOK FOR STUDENTS, 03 Feb 2004
An extremely well written and laid out book from Oxford University Press. It is a must have item for any student of criminology, criminal justice and policing studies etc. I can't remember how many essays and exams this book (and the previous edition) has got me through but with out I wouldn't have done as well as I did. Expensive? Yes but you won't regret buying it.
Essential reading for anyone embarking on a Law degree, 04 Apr 2008
I bought this book 3 years ago before starting my LLB, and bought it again last week as I hope to study for an LLM next year and wanted to brush up on my legal skills.
The book is very good at getting a prospective law student to think like a lawyer. It sets out very well the areas that a student needs to know about, such as judicial precedent, statutory interpretation and the now unavoidable influence of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights on English law.
Two minor criticisms. Firstly, I think the authors do not clarify or explain certain topics enough, especially as this is aimed at students who have not yet studied Law. Secondly, there are countless typing and printing errors in the 6th edition. This can be very distracting and means that perhaps the book does not convey the professionalism you would expect from a legal text.
Im a Mature Newbie to Law!, 28 Nov 2007
I am shortly embarking on a law degree course. I have tried to grasp the rudiments in trying to understand our past & current legal process's via reading books & other data (Acts), but have failed to grasp the precise method/reasoning which is essential to undertake such a course.... up until I bought this book. It has expanded & improved my method for learning which has also given me so much confidence! This book is rather like a manual for a car, so it has proved invaluable for someone like me! It clearly explains everything covered, into an understandable clear format. I know that this book will foremostly be referenced again & again throughout my degree course. Simply a credit to the Authors.
Not clear enough to be useful, 08 Oct 2007
I didn't find this book useful. I think that if you are the average sort of student that wants a bit of help with getting things right, you need a book that talks to you in ordinary language and makes it very clear what you are supposed to be doing. This book didn't do this. It had very convuluted explanations that I found really hard to follow. I'm not the best student in the world but I'm not the worst either but at the end of this book I was none the clearer about what I was supposed to be doing. In all honesty this was a waste of my time reading it. I've asked some of my friends if they thought it was useful as we all had to buy it but I haven't found anyone yet who has used the advice in there and most other students have said that they couldn't get what it was on about either. I mean, make it clear or don't bother. I wish I'd saved my money.
Excellent for any law student, 11 May 2007
I bought this coupled with another "The English Legal System" book and found this one to outweigh the other one i bought both in content and concise information. It is well written and one of the most readable law books i've seen. I actually enjoy reading some of the chapters in this book - they are accessible and to the point. It clearly has an edge on basic european legal principles and institutions and allows you to get a good grasp of the essential parts of the English legal system. Would highly recommend for any law undergraduate. I would be keeping it throughout my degree for reference.
Excellent introduction, 14 Sep 2006
This book provides a clear well-ordered overview of legal reasoning. You quickly find yourself thinking like a lawyer. The 6th Edition would benefit from further proof-reading - the 'typos' are quite distracting at times.
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Textbook on Land Law
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Judith-Anne MacKenzieMary Phillips;
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Customer Reviews
Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.
In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays! Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled. Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one! Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.
I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live. EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money! Excellent, 25 Mar 2008
I have studied all aspects of Tort, Family, Business, Criminal, Property, Land, Contract Law and Civil and Criminal Litigation at Level 3 and every word I have wanted to look up has been in this dictionary. It has been my life line throughout my studies. A must have for all law students at every level. Excellent for Uni Students (Year 1 and 2), 26 Jan 2008
I have just started my LLB(Hons) OU Law course and have used this many times. Great for any student studying Law at GCSE or LLB.
Great Stuff!!! Love it!!!!!, 10 Jan 2008
No law student should be without a law dictionary... I bought this one last September because the last edition couldn't take another year of use!
Use my dictionary all the time, first place I go for every form of work! Not so useful for Scottish Law Students, 14 Dec 2007
Hmm... The differences in terminology between the Scots and English Law systems is very evident in this book. I've owned it for 18 months, and more often than not it doesn't have what I need.
There are better (free!) online legal dictionary services. Excellent - even my boss think's it's great!, 05 Oct 2003
I recently started work as a Legal Secretary for a firm of solicitors and wanted a book which gives the correct spellings and meanings of legal terms - this does the job perfectly. I refer to it a lot and my boss, a Partner in the firm, is so impressed with it that even he refers to it from time to time! It is well deserving of five stars. Superb , 04 Apr 2008
This is the leading modern text in criminology, comprehensive and authoritative, written by 35 distinguished British contributors. The editors are Mike Maguire, Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University, Rod Morgan, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales and Professor Emeritus at Bristol University, and Robert Reiner, Professor of Criminology at the London School of Economics.
It has five parts: the history and theory of criminology, the social construction of crime and crime control, the dimensions of crime, the forms of crime, and reactions to crime. It covers research and policy developments and their relationship to race, gender, youth culture and political economy.
The evidence is that the serious violent crime rate is much higher in Thatcherite political economies than in welfarist ones. As Reiner writes, there is a plethora of material confirming that crime of all kinds is linked to inequality, relative deprivation, and unemployment. So, for example, the rise in crime in Britain in the 1980s was due to what happened in the 1980s: naturally Thatcher blamed it on what had happened 20 years before. And it was the 1980s, not the 1960s, that saw the dramatic rise in opiate use here.
The evidence shows that states with higher welfare spending have less crime and lower imprisonment rates. For every dollar spent, Michigans Head Start welfare programme brought $17 of benefit by cutting crime, thereby cutting the numbers imprisoned and thus the costs of imprisonment.
Of course, recognising that crime has root causes does not stop us exploring all possible avenues of crime reduction, victim support and penal reform. Nor does it mean ignoring offenders moral responsibility. Understanding does not cancel the need for judgment.
Thatcherite political economies also have more punitive penal policies. Yet welfarist Sweden has had a smaller rise in crime than Britain, while having a less punitive penal policy. Similarly, Finland has dramatically cut its prison numbers, without increasing crime.
Growing economic inequality and social polarisation increase crime and therefore insecurity and fear. We cannot afford to leave the economy, or society or security to the market. We need to take responsibility for all aspects of our society.
Absolutely outstanding., 22 Jul 2007
Right. I guess I should precis this review by stating quite explicitly that I'm a raging criminology geek. I was determined not to write a review until I had read the OHC cover-to-cover. And it has been well worth the experience. I went into the second year of a Criminology BSc with no criminological background, and decided to spend a couple of months before the start of term reading the third edition cover to cover. I feel that the background the OHC gave me provided a springboard for getting a first. The outstanding wealth and depth of knowledge has to be seen to be believed - I would happily be giving it away as a birthday present left, right and center if it wasn't for the sure and certain knowledge that doing so would get me a hearty slap from my non-criminological family.
I am starting a Masters (hopefully leading into a PhD) this October; given that the 3rd edition seemed to give me a huge amount, I decided to do my best to read the 4th edition cover to cover before October. My copy is now dog-eared, much-loved, and covered liberally in pencil scrawls. I feel far, far more comfortable at the prospect of going back into academia having spent just over a year in very non-academic work.
The one real tragedy for me is the conflation of Loraine Gelsthorpe's and Frances Heidensohn's chapters. In the third edition, they respectively covered Feminism and Criminology and Gender and Crime. In the fourth edition, they co-author a single chapter on Gender and Crime. I personally find it deeply frustrating that two beautifully written, detailed and very discrete chapters have been merged into one. Loraine Gelsthorpe's chapter on feminism and criminology was my introduction to feminist criminology - something I have every intention of carrying into my MPhil / (hopefully) PhD. I found the third edition's coverage of both gender AND feminism both highly appropriate, and absolutely fascinating. The conflation of the two chapters into one to my mind leaves something seriously lacking. And maybe the omission of a chapter on feminism and criminology says something and makes a statement in its own right. The chapter on gender and crime is very well written and contains aspects of both preceding chapters; but the idea that two discrete chapters each of forty pages can be combined into one chapter of forty pages without significant loss is ridiculous. I would recommend with all my heart that anyone with an interest in gender and crime / feminist criminology at least borrows a copy of the third edition. There is a wealth of additional colour and texture there that substantially fired up my interest in criminology.
Aside from that, the online chapters do add something invaluable to the fourth edition. It is a self-contained, beautifully comprehensive and more-than-sufficient edition in itself; but the addition of Jock Young, Barbara Hudson, David Garland and Ken Pease's chapters online do add yet another level of depth. Jock Young and David Garland in particular were two of the chapters that stood out the most to me from the third edition, and two of the chapters that I have gone back to time and time again. The OHC is richer for having them available. At the risk of harping on, though - I wish that Dr. Gelsthorpe's and Professor Heidensohn's chapters were on the OHC website too. They really are the one substantial omission in my eyes. And that - I promise - is the last of that particular tub-thumping spree.
In brief, I cannot recommend this book enough. To anyone, but particularly budding / current criminologists. There is such a wealth of detail in there, from the first two introductory chapters (sociological and psychological approaches) right through to the last two on community penalties and imprisonment. It is not heavygoing; it is not unduly challenging. With the possible exception of Media-Made Criminality, that is - which frankly lost me. Huge reams of statistics with remarkably little coherence to my eyes. Oddly enough, I felt the very next chapter (political economy, crime and criminal justice) is one of the best in the book, and by the self-same author.
Jock Young pulls off something similar - the only other chapter in the book to mildly vex me was the one on Cultural Criminology (done far better - though admittedly in a rather more inaccessible way - by Jeff Ferrell in the book Criminological Perspectives). And yet Crime and Social Exclusion in the third edition remains one of the most solid and interesting chapters in either book.
All in all, I've wittered enough. If your degree / course is worth thirty-whatever quid to you and you're willing to put in the effort, then go for it. If it isn't and / or you aren't, then don't. This book has the hallmark of quality stamped firmly right through it, and there's certainly nothing else criminological out there that can hope to compete in terms of either quality or value for money. BUY IT!, 18 Nov 2006
This book is a must have for criminology students. I bought this book and 2 others but have not needed to use those. This has everything you need to know and more. Essential for criminologists, 18 Nov 2006
I love this book. It seriously helped me through my criminology degree at uni - and I ended up with a 1st. It covers just about every topic you need. Definately a very wise investment. A MUST HAVE BOOK FOR STUDENTS, 03 Feb 2004
An extremely well written and laid out book from Oxford University Press. It is a must have item for any student of criminology, criminal justice and policing studies etc. I can't remember how many essays and exams this book (and the previous edition) has got me through but with out I wouldn't have done as well as I did. Expensive? Yes but you won't regret buying it.
Essential reading for anyone embarking on a Law degree, 04 Apr 2008
I bought this book 3 years ago before starting my LLB, and bought it again last week as I hope to study for an LLM next year and wanted to brush up on my legal skills.
The book is very good at getting a prospective law student to think like a lawyer. It sets out very well the areas that a student needs to know about, such as judicial precedent, statutory interpretation and the now unavoidable influence of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights on English law.
Two minor criticisms. Firstly, I think the authors do not clarify or explain certain topics enough, especially as this is aimed at students who have not yet studied Law. Secondly, there are countless typing and printing errors in the 6th edition. This can be very distracting and means that perhaps the book does not convey the professionalism you would expect from a legal text.
Im a Mature Newbie to Law!, 28 Nov 2007
I am shortly embarking on a law degree course. I have tried to grasp the rudiments in trying to understand our past & current legal process's via reading books & other data (Acts), but have failed to grasp the precise method/reasoning which is essential to undertake such a course.... up until I bought this book. It has expanded & improved my method for learning which has also given me so much confidence! This book is rather like a manual for a car, so it has proved invaluable for someone like me! It clearly explains everything covered, into an understandable clear format. I know that this book will foremostly be referenced again & again throughout my degree course. Simply a credit to the Authors.
Not clear enough to be useful, 08 Oct 2007
I didn't find this book useful. I think that if you are the average sort of student that wants a bit of help with getting things right, you need a book that talks to you in ordinary language and makes it very clear what you are supposed to be doing. This book didn't do this. It had very convuluted explanations that I found really hard to follow. I'm not the best student in the world but I'm not the worst either but at the end of this book I was none the clearer about what I was supposed to be doing. In all honesty this was a waste of my time reading it. I've asked some of my friends if they thought it was useful as we all had to buy it but I haven't found anyone yet who has used the advice in there and most other students have said that they couldn't get what it was on about either. I mean, make it clear or don't bother. I wish I'd saved my money.
Excellent for any law student, 11 May 2007
I bought this coupled with another "The English Legal System" book and found this one to outweigh the other one i bought both in content and concise information. It is well written and one of the most readable law books i've seen. I actually enjoy reading some of the chapters in this book - they are accessible and to the point. It clearly has an edge on basic european legal principles and institutions and allows you to get a good grasp of the essential parts of the English legal system. Would highly recommend for any law undergraduate. I would be keeping it throughout my degree for reference.
Excellent introduction, 14 Sep 2006
This book provides a clear well-ordered overview of legal reasoning. You quickly find yourself thinking like a lawyer. The 6th Edition would benefit from further proof-reading - the 'typos' are quite distracting at times.
Good Text At Parts But Repeats Like A Merry Go Round!!, 21 Apr 2007
I cant be to critic, about this, because land law without doubt is a complex and ever evolving branch of law, which can drive anyone up the wall, regardless of writing or reading etc.
The original part of this part in the introduction of a virtual landscape and fictional characthers in a very good point and does bring home some more complex elements down to earth, and the book is if anyone in depth, perhaps at some points to much, especially when considering old laws that dont bear no resemblence to modern law now, but i guess thats the fun of law to!!
But on a negative side, in my eyes, the case history in the book is not at times using cases of simplicty to get the point across and are often long winded affairs and to which even sometimes they cut off from wording because of!!, dosent hol much hope for the student i think!
Also you often find that you read something and then later think you reading the same thing, ( like a dream when you wake up and suddenly remember you dreamt it!! lol ) that really does annoy me, because sometimes you end up chater surfing and thats not a good thing to be doing alot, aslo i would recommend if you want to make any sense of the starting chapters or later ones, invest in a equity and trusts book because if you havint covered it in property 2 yet, you really going to be lost off, at least i was!!
Anyway, its got its good points and bad points, but in balance, i would have to fair and say for me personally, i have read better books that i find easier, but thats me, and for me its bad points out number the good ones.
Sorry but i would give serious thought to over texts before reading this
Refreshing!, 28 Nov 2006
The core textbook for the Property Law module on my LLB. Tackling the notoriously dry and complex subject that is Land Law, this is a refreshingly simple book to follow. Each area is broken down into understandable terms making this an indispensible purchase for any Law student or general reader.
Unhelpful., 10 Apr 2006
We have to read this book for our course. It is not very helpful, long winded, and not very concise either. It is one of the most complained about textbooks along with Equity for being hard to understand. It does nothing to increase anyone's interest in the subject.
Brilliant!, 18 Apr 2005
This book is well written, easy to understand and ideal for law students. The text is clear and the authors illustrate the legal points well with examples. The book does not over burden you with excessive amounts of detail, it just tells you what you need to know in order to do well in your property law exam. Thank-you Judith-Anne and Mary for turning a relatively dry area of land law into something quite bearable. My only criticism of the book is that it has no chapter on Finder's Titles and Treasures. A good book for this chapeter that I would reccommend comes from Roger Smith's 4th Edition of Property Law.
Sheds some light on land law, 22 Dec 2004
Land law's such an arcane-seeming subject, and the key texts, like Gray & Gray, could fell a bull elephant at 50 paces. Start with this one. It is particularly good at putting the complexities of land law into a real context, using hypothetical examples of people and property to illustrate the practical outcomes of the law in this area (Warning - there are plenty of those peculiar personal names that law examiners seem so fond of... - Oscar Oregano, anyone?). Unlike most land law texts, you can carry it comfortably in a shopping bag for reading on the Tube.
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Customer Reviews
Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.
In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays! Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled. Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one! Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.
I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live. EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money! Excellent, 25 Mar 2008
I have studied all aspects of Tort, Family, Business, Criminal, Property, Land, Contract Law and Civil and Criminal Litigation at Level 3 and every word I have wanted to look up has been in this dictionary. It has been my life line throughout my studies. A must have for all law students at every level. Excellent for Uni Students (Year 1 and 2), 26 Jan 2008
I have just started my LLB(Hons) OU Law course and have used this many times. Great for any student studying Law at GCSE or LLB.
Great Stuff!!! Love it!!!!!, 10 Jan 2008
No law student should be without a law dictionary... I bought this one last September because the last edition couldn't take another year of use!
Use my dictionary all the time, first place I go for every form of work! Not so useful for Scottish Law Students, 14 Dec 2007
Hmm... The differences in terminology between the Scots and English Law systems is very evident in this book. I've owned it for 18 months, and more often than not it doesn't have what I need.
There are better (free!) online legal dictionary services. Excellent - even my boss think's it's great!, 05 Oct 2003
I recently started work as a Legal Secretary for a firm of solicitors and wanted a book which gives the correct spellings and meanings of legal terms - this does the job perfectly. I refer to it a lot and my boss, a Partner in the firm, is so impressed with it that even he refers to it from time to time! It is well deserving of five stars. Superb , 04 Apr 2008
This is the leading modern text in criminology, comprehensive and authoritative, written by 35 distinguished British contributors. The editors are Mike Maguire, Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University, Rod Morgan, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales and Professor Emeritus at Bristol University, and Robert Reiner, Professor of Criminology at the London School of Economics.
It has five parts: the history and theory of criminology, the social construction of crime and crime control, the dimensions of crime, the forms of crime, and reactions to crime. It covers research and policy developments and their relationship to race, gender, youth culture and political economy.
The evidence is that the serious violent crime rate is much higher in Thatcherite political economies than in welfarist ones. As Reiner writes, there is a plethora of material confirming that crime of all kinds is linked to inequality, relative deprivation, and unemployment. So, for example, the rise in crime in Britain in the 1980s was due to what happened in the 1980s: naturally Thatcher blamed it on what had happened 20 years before. And it was the 1980s, not the 1960s, that saw the dramatic rise in opiate use here.
The evidence shows that states with higher welfare spending have less crime and lower imprisonment rates. For every dollar spent, Michigans Head Start welfare programme brought $17 of benefit by cutting crime, thereby cutting the numbers imprisoned and thus the costs of imprisonment.
Of course, recognising that crime has root causes does not stop us exploring all possible avenues of crime reduction, victim support and penal reform. Nor does it mean ignoring offenders moral responsibility. Understanding does not cancel the need for judgment.
Thatcherite political economies also have more punitive penal policies. Yet welfarist Sweden has had a smaller rise in crime than Britain, while having a less punitive penal policy. Similarly, Finland has dramatically cut its prison numbers, without increasing crime.
Growing economic inequality and social polarisation increase crime and therefore insecurity and fear. We cannot afford to leave the economy, or society or security to the market. We need to take responsibility for all aspects of our society.
Absolutely outstanding., 22 Jul 2007
Right. I guess I should precis this review by stating quite explicitly that I'm a raging criminology geek. I was determined not to write a review until I had read the OHC cover-to-cover. And it has been well worth the experience. I went into the second year of a Criminology BSc with no criminological background, and decided to spend a couple of months before the start of term reading the third edition cover to cover. I feel that the background the OHC gave me provided a springboard for getting a first. The outstanding wealth and depth of knowledge has to be seen to be believed - I would happily be giving it away as a birthday present left, right and center if it wasn't for the sure and certain knowledge that doing so would get me a hearty slap from my non-criminological family.
I am starting a Masters (hopefully leading into a PhD) this October; given that the 3rd edition seemed to give me a huge amount, I decided to do my best to read the 4th edition cover to cover before October. My copy is now dog-eared, much-loved, and covered liberally in pencil scrawls. I feel far, far more comfortable at the prospect of going back into academia having spent just over a year in very non-academic work.
The one real tragedy for me is the conflation of Loraine Gelsthorpe's and Frances Heidensohn's chapters. In the third edition, they respectively covered Feminism and Criminology and Gender and Crime. In the fourth edition, they co-author a single chapter on Gender and Crime. I personally find it deeply frustrating that two beautifully written, detailed and very discrete chapters have been merged into one. Loraine Gelsthorpe's chapter on feminism and criminology was my introduction to feminist criminology - something I have every intention of carrying into my MPhil / (hopefully) PhD. I found the third edition's coverage of both gender AND feminism both highly appropriate, and absolutely fascinating. The conflation of the two chapters into one to my mind leaves something seriously lacking. And maybe the omission of a chapter on feminism and criminology says something and makes a statement in its own right. The chapter on gender and crime is very well written and contains aspects of both preceding chapters; but the idea that two discrete chapters each of forty pages can be combined into one chapter of forty pages without significant loss is ridiculous. I would recommend with all my heart that anyone with an interest in gender and crime / feminist criminology at least borrows a copy of the third edition. There is a wealth of additional colour and texture there that substantially fired up my interest in criminology.
Aside from that, the online chapters do add something invaluable to the fourth edition. It is a self-contained, beautifully comprehensive and more-than-sufficient edition in itself; but the addition of Jock Young, Barbara Hudson, David Garland and Ken Pease's chapters online do add yet another level of depth. Jock Young and David Garland in particular were two of the chapters that stood out the most to me from the third edition, and two of the chapters that I have gone back to time and time again. The OHC is richer for having them available. At the risk of harping on, though - I wish that Dr. Gelsthorpe's and Professor Heidensohn's chapters were on the OHC website too. They really are the one substantial omission in my eyes. And that - I promise - is the last of that particular tub-thumping spree.
In brief, I cannot recommend this book enough. To anyone, but particularly budding / current criminologists. There is such a wealth of detail in there, from the first two introductory chapters (sociological and psychological approaches) right through to the last two on community penalties and imprisonment. It is not heavygoing; it is not unduly challenging. With the possible exception of Media-Made Criminality, that is - which frankly lost me. Huge reams of statistics with remarkably little coherence to my eyes. Oddly enough, I felt the very next chapter (political economy, crime and criminal justice) is one of the best in the book, and by the self-same author.
Jock Young pulls off something similar - the only other chapter in the book to mildly vex me was the one on Cultural Criminology (done far better - though admittedly in a rather more inaccessible way - by Jeff Ferrell in the book Criminological Perspectives). And yet Crime and Social Exclusion in the third edition remains one of the most solid and interesting chapters in either book.
All in all, I've wittered enough. If your degree / course is worth thirty-whatever quid to you and you're willing to put in the effort, then go for it. If it isn't and / or you aren't, then don't. This book has the hallmark of quality stamped firmly right through it, and there's certainly nothing else criminological out there that can hope to compete in terms of either quality or value for money. BUY IT!, 18 Nov 2006
This book is a must have for criminology students. I bought this book and 2 others but have not needed to use those. This has everything you need to know and more. Essential for criminologists, 18 Nov 2006
I love this book. It seriously helped me through my criminology degree at uni - and I ended up with a 1st. It covers just about every topic you need. Definately a very wise investment. A MUST HAVE BOOK FOR STUDENTS, 03 Feb 2004
An extremely well written and laid out book from Oxford University Press. It is a must have item for any student of criminology, criminal justice and policing studies etc. I can't remember how many essays and exams this book (and the previous edition) has got me through but with out I wouldn't have done as well as I did. Expensive? Yes but you won't regret buying it.
Essential reading for anyone embarking on a Law degree, 04 Apr 2008
I bought this book 3 years ago before starting my LLB, and bought it again last week as I hope to study for an LLM next year and wanted to brush up on my legal skills.
The book is very good at getting a prospective law student to think like a lawyer. It sets out very well the areas that a student needs to know about, such as judicial precedent, statutory interpretation and the now unavoidable influence of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights on English law.
Two minor criticisms. Firstly, I think the authors do not clarify or explain certain topics enough, especially as this is aimed at students who have not yet studied Law. Secondly, there are countless typing and printing errors in the 6th edition. This can be very distracting and means that perhaps the book does not convey the professionalism you would expect from a legal text.
Im a Mature Newbie to Law!, 28 Nov 2007
I am shortly embarking on a law degree course. I have tried to grasp the rudiments in trying to understand our past & current legal process's via reading books & other data (Acts), but have failed to grasp the precise method/reasoning which is essential to undertake such a course.... up until I bought this book. It has expanded & improved my method for learning which has also given me so much confidence! This book is rather like a manual for a car, so it has proved invaluable for someone like me! It clearly explains everything covered, into an understandable clear format. I know that this book will foremostly be referenced again & again throughout my degree course. Simply a credit to the Authors.
Not clear enough to be useful, 08 Oct 2007
I didn't find this book useful. I think that if you are the average sort of student that wants a bit of help with getting things right, you need a book that talks to you in ordinary language and makes it very clear what you are supposed to be doing. This book didn't do this. It had very convuluted explanations that I found really hard to follow. I'm not the best student in the world but I'm not the worst either but at the end of this book I was none the clearer about what I was supposed to be doing. In all honesty this was a waste of my time reading it. I've asked some of my friends if they thought it was useful as we all had to buy it but I haven't found anyone yet who has used the advice in there and most other students have said that they couldn't get what it was on about either. I mean, make it clear or don't bother. I wish I'd saved my money.
Excellent for any law student, 11 May 2007
I bought this coupled with another "The English Legal System" book and found this one to outweigh the other one i bought both in content and concise information. It is well written and one of the most readable law books i've seen. I actually enjoy reading some of the chapters in this book - they are accessible and to the point. It clearly has an edge on basic european legal principles and institutions and allows you to get a good grasp of the essential parts of the English legal system. Would highly recommend for any law undergraduate. I would be keeping it throughout my degree for reference.
Excellent introduction, 14 Sep 2006
This book provides a clear well-ordered overview of legal reasoning. You quickly find yourself thinking like a lawyer. The 6th Edition would benefit from further proof-reading - the 'typos' are quite distracting at times.
Good Text At Parts But Repeats Like A Merry Go Round!!, 21 Apr 2007
I cant be to critic, about this, because land law without doubt is a complex and ever evolving branch of law, which can drive anyone up the wall, regardless of writing or reading etc.
The original part of this part in the introduction of a virtual landscape and fictional characthers in a very good point and does bring home some more complex elements down to earth, and the book is if anyone in depth, perhaps at some points to much, especially when considering old laws that dont bear no resemblence to modern law now, but i guess thats the fun of law to!!
But on a negative side, in my eyes, the case history in the book is not at times using cases of simplicty to get the point across and are often long winded affairs and to which even sometimes they cut off from wording because of!!, dosent hol much hope for the student i think!
Also you often find that you read something and then later think you reading the same thing, ( like a dream when you wake up and suddenly remember you dreamt it!! lol ) that really does annoy me, because sometimes you end up chater surfing and thats not a good thing to be doing alot, aslo i would recommend if you want to make any sense of the starting chapters or later ones, invest in a equity and trusts book because if you havint covered it in property 2 yet, you really going to be lost off, at least i was!!
Anyway, its got its good points and bad points, but in balance, i would have to fair and say for me personally, i have read better books that i find easier, but thats me, and for me its bad points out number the good ones.
Sorry but i would give serious thought to over texts before reading this
Refreshing!, 28 Nov 2006
The core textbook for the Property Law module on my LLB. Tackling the notoriously dry and complex subject that is Land Law, this is a refreshingly simple book to follow. Each area is broken down into understandable terms making this an indispensible purchase for any Law student or general reader.
Unhelpful., 10 Apr 2006
We have to read this book for our course. It is not very helpful, long winded, and not very concise either. It is one of the most complained about textbooks along with Equity for being hard to understand. It does nothing to increase anyone's interest in the subject.
Brilliant!, 18 Apr 2005
This book is well written, easy to understand and ideal for law students. The text is clear and the authors illustrate the legal points well with examples. The book does not over burden you with excessive amounts of detail, it just tells you what you need to know in order to do well in your property law exam. Thank-you Judith-Anne and Mary for turning a relatively dry area of land law into something quite bearable. My only criticism of the book is that it has no chapter on Finder's Titles and Treasures. A good book for this chapeter that I would reccommend comes from Roger Smith's 4th Edition of Property Law.
Sheds some light on land law, 22 Dec 2004
Land law's such an arcane-seeming subject, and the key texts, like Gray & Gray, could fell a bull elephant at 50 paces. Start with this one. It is particularly good at putting the complexities of land law into a real context, using hypothetical examples of people and property to illustrate the practical outcomes of the law in this area (Warning - there are plenty of those peculiar personal names that law examiners seem so fond of... - Oscar Oregano, anyone?). Unlike most land law texts, you can carry it comfortably in a shopping bag for reading on the Tube.
Magic - buy it!, 08 Oct 2007
This book was recommended as pre-course reading for the LLB. I'd already got the Glanville Williams one, which would have been fine if I was studying law in 1850, but this is SO much more useful in every respect. It's a manual of 'how to do everything' with plenty of substance and academic weight but written so that anyone can make sense of it.
Everything that you ever wanted to know about studying law but never got told, 04 Oct 2007
I love this book. I can't believe that I didn't have it before because it would have saved me so much grief. It has everything in it that my lecturers kept telling me that I ought to be doing but never seemed to think it was there job to tell me how I should be doing it. It is like referencing. I kept getting work back that said my referencing wasn't good enough but never once did anyone tell me how to make it better. It is the same with problem questions. Telling me that I didn't have the technique was never going to help me get it. But now this book tells me all the things that I need to know and I can see how much it is going to help me. It is like the sections on finding cases and articles. I've never been able to find things and I'd given up and thought 'if it's not in my textbook, I'm not going to read it' but the really simple instructions on searching gave me courage to try and now it is all so easy that I don't know what I thought it was a problem. If I'd had this book to do my first year legal systems course then I wouldn't have struggled nearly as much as I did. All you need as a student is someone to tell you how to do things but lecturers don't do that - they just expect you to be able to do it by magic and then have a go at you for getting it wrong. This book tells me how to do all sorts of things and now I am a much better student as a result. My only complaint is that I've had to get through two years of my degree without anybody telling me these things before. I mean, why not? This books makes it all so easy so surely someone at my university could have spelt things out for us a bit more. This should be compulsory reading for every law student everywhere.
I love this book, 14 Sep 2007
If you are studying law, you need this book. It is like an encylodpedia of all the things that you need to knwo to do well on your degree.
I'm just starting my second year and I didn't have this book last year and I didn't do that well. I tried but I found it hard to work out what some of the advice meant on doing essays and particularly problems. My exam results weren't the greatest and I did think about giving it up and doing something else. My dad said 'perhaps you're not just cut out for law' but my gran said that was nonsense and bought me this book. I don't know why she chose this one but i'm glad she did becuase it has made every single thing that I didn't understand totally and utterly clear as a bell. I've used the suggestions on problem questions to go back over my coursework from last year where i was getting marks like 48 and 50 and now I can see that it was so bad and I did so much wrong but I just didn't realise. I emailed my tutor for one of the subjects and told him that I'd been worried about my marks so I'd done some work over the summer and rewritten an essay and would he look at it and tell me if it was better and he said that it was a 'terrific improvement' and that it was now worth at least 15% more marks. I was made up because that would make it my best mark ever. So now all I have to do is follow the instructions in the book and I'll be getting marks up in the 60's for my coursework and be understnading what I have to do.
The reason I think this book is essential is that it is so clear that it gets rid of any doubt about what you have do so. There are step to step guides on essays, findings cases, writing and exams and all the other things that we need to know but nobody tells us.
The only legal skills book you'll need, 23 Jul 2007
I used the Law Express revision books by these authors before the exams last year and did better than I expected. Then I spotted this new one they've written - there is tons of useful stuff in here, not just on how to find the law (the guides to databases here are brilliant) and how to read it but most importantly how to use it in answering questions and how to write in a proper legal style. I've struggled with my writing and technique so far, but I can see where I've been going wrong - why my lecturers never told me any of this, I'll never know! I'm going to carry on reading it over the summer and I'm sure I'll do better next year. I'm not sure why they haven't made it look more like the others in their revision series, but if that's the only complaint I have, it must tell you how good the book is! Thank you!
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Customer Reviews
Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.
In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays!
Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled.
Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one!
Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.
I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live.
EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money!
Excellent, 25 Mar 2008
I have studied all aspects of Tort, Family, Business, Criminal, Property, Land, Contract Law and Civil and Criminal Litigation at Level 3 and every word I have wanted to look up has been in this dictionary. It has been my life line throughout my studies. A must have for all law students at every level.
Excellent for Uni Students (Year 1 and 2), 26 Jan 2008
I have just started my LLB(Hons) OU Law course and have used this many times. Great for any student studying Law at GCSE or LLB.
Great Stuff!!!
Love it!!!!!, 10 Jan 2008
No law student should be without a law dictionary... I bought this one last September because the last edition couldn't take another year of use!
Use my dictionary all the time, first place I go for every form of work!
Not so useful for Scottish Law Students, 14 Dec 2007
Hmm... The differences in terminology between the Scots and English Law systems is very evident in this book. I've owned it for 18 months, and more often than not it doesn't have what I need.
There are better (free!) online legal dictionary services.
Excellent - even my boss think's it's great!, 05 Oct 2003
I recently started work as a Legal Secretary for a firm of solicitors and wanted a book which gives the correct spellings and meanings of legal terms - this does the job perfectly. I refer to it a lot and my boss, a Partner in the firm, is so impressed with it that even he refers to it from time to time! It is well deserving of five stars.
Superb , 04 Apr 2008
This is the leading modern text in criminology, comprehensive and authoritative, written by 35 distinguished British contributors. The editors are Mike Maguire, Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University, Rod Morgan, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales and Professor Emeritus at Bristol University, and Robert Reiner, Professor of Criminology at the London School of Economics.
It has five parts: the history and theory of criminology, the social construction of crime and crime control, the dimensions of crime, the forms of crime, and reactions to crime. It covers research and policy developments and their relationship to race, gender, youth culture and political economy.
The evidence is that the serious violent crime rate is much higher in Thatcherite political economies than in welfarist ones. As Reiner writes, there is a plethora of material confirming that crime of all kinds is linked to inequality, relative deprivation, and unemployment. So, for example, the rise in crime in Britain in the 1980s was due to what happened in the 1980s: naturally Thatcher blamed it on what had happened 20 years before. And it was the 1980s, not the 1960s, that saw the dramatic rise in opiate use here.
The evidence shows that states with higher welfare spending have less crime and lower imprisonment rates. For every dollar spent, Michigans Head Start welfare programme brought $17 of benefit by cutting crime, thereby cutting the numbers imprisoned and thus the costs of imprisonment.
Of course, recognising that crime has root causes does not stop us exploring all possible avenues of crime reduction, victim support and penal reform. Nor does it mean ignoring offenders moral responsibility. Understanding does not cancel the need for judgment.
Thatcherite political economies also have more punitive penal policies. Yet welfarist Sweden has had a smaller rise in crime than Britain, while having a less punitive penal policy. Similarly, Finland has dramatically cut its prison numbers, without increasing crime.
Growing economic inequality and social polarisation increase crime and therefore insecurity and fear. We cannot afford to leave the economy, or society or security to the market. We need to take responsibility for all aspects of our society.
Absolutely outstanding., 22 Jul 2007
Right. I guess I should precis this review by stating quite explicitly that I'm a raging criminology geek. I was determined not to write a review until I had read the OHC cover-to-cover. And it has been well worth the experience. I went into the second year of a Criminology BSc with no criminological background, and decided to spend a couple of months before the start of term reading the third edition cover to cover. I feel that the background the OHC gave me provided a springboard for getting a first. The outstanding wealth and depth of knowledge has to be seen to be believed - I would happily be giving it away as a birthday present left, right and center if it wasn't for the sure and certain knowledge that doing so would get me a hearty slap from my non-criminological family.
I am starting a Masters (hopefully leading into a PhD) this October; given that the 3rd edition seemed to give me a huge amount, I decided to do my best to read the 4th edition cover to cover before October. My copy is now dog-eared, much-loved, and covered liberally in pencil scrawls. I feel far, far more comfortable at the prospect of going back into academia having spent just over a year in very non-academic work.
The one real tragedy for me is the conflation of Loraine Gelsthorpe's and Frances Heidensohn's chapters. In the third edition, they respectively covered Feminism and Criminology and Gender and Crime. In the fourth edition, they co-author a single chapter on Gender and Crime. I personally find it deeply frustrating that two beautifully written, detailed and very discrete chapters have been merged into one. Loraine Gelsthorpe's chapter on feminism and criminology was my introduction to feminist criminology - something I have every intention of carrying into my MPhil / (hopefully) PhD. I found the third edition's coverage of both gender AND feminism both highly appropriate, and absolutely fascinating. The conflation of the two chapters into one to my mind leaves something seriously lacking. And maybe the omission of a chapter on feminism and criminology says something and makes a statement in its own right. The chapter on gender and crime is very well written and contains aspects of both preceding chapters; but the idea that two discrete chapters each of forty pages can be combined into one chapter of forty pages without significant loss is ridiculous. I would recommend with all my heart that anyone with an interest in gender and crime / feminist criminology at least borrows a copy of the third edition. There is a wealth of additional colour and texture there that substantially fired up my interest in criminology.
Aside from that, the online chapters do add something invaluable to the fourth edition. It is a self-contained, beautifully comprehensive and more-than-sufficient edition in itself; but the addition of Jock Young, Barbara Hudson, David Garland and Ken Pease's chapters online do add yet another level of depth. Jock Young and David Garland in particular were two of the chapters that stood out the most to me from the third edition, and two of the chapters that I have gone back to time and time again. The OHC is richer for having them available. At the risk of harping on, though - I wish that Dr. Gelsthorpe's and Professor Heidensohn's chapters were on the OHC website too. They really are the one substantial omission in my eyes. And that - I promise - is the last of that particular tub-thumping spree.
In brief, I cannot recommend this book enough. To anyone, but particularly budding / current criminologists. There is such a wealth of detail in there, from the first two introductory chapters ( | | |