Canadian State Trials Volume 3: Political Trials and Security
Measures, 1840-1914
edited by Barry Wright, Department of Law, Carleton University, and
Dr. Susan Binnie, independent scholar
Published for the Osgoode Society by the University of Toronto Press.
Cost: $70.00
Read review(s)
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Description
This third volume of the Osgoode Society's Canadian State Trials
series covers the period from the 1840s to the First World War. It
examines a range of political trials as traditionally defined,
including those arising from the Fenian invasions and the North-West
Rebellions. The volume also expands the definition of state trials to
include studies on the early development of secret policing and the
evolution of the legal regulation of riot and public order. The
editors have assembled a team of experts from across the country in a
variety of fields, and produced a comprehensive and fascinating set
of studies of the use of law to control political dissent and public disorder.
Reviews
Volume 3 [of the Osgoode Society's State Trials series] is a comprehensive collection of studies covering the period 1830 to 1914 ... contributed by sixteen scholars in the fields of law and history. All regions of the country are represented except British Columba.... One important theme in the collection is that in the past the full might of the law in 'political' surveillance and prosecutions has been tempered more by political expediency or realities than by the abstract principles of the rule of law.... The book is somewhat intimidating in size but well worth the effort. Greg Marquis, Canadian Historical Review, vol 91, 2010.
[A] fascinating window onto a broader legal culture in the process of being forged in the decades before and after Confederation. Robert Diab, Canadian Journal of Law and Society, vol 25, 2010.
