Osgoode Society Books
Our books are listed here chronologically by date of publication. Use the Search function to the right to find a particular book, or author.
Case Studies
-
Carnal Crimes: Sexual Assault Law in Canada, 1900-1975
by Constance Backhouse, Professor of Law, University of Ottawa. Published with Irwin Law, 2008. An engaging and powerful book about sexual assault crimes in Canadian history, by Professor Constance Backhouse, whose previous books for the Osgoode Society have won major awards. Using a case-study approach, Professor Backhouse explores nine sexual assault trials from across the country… Read more »
-
Essays in the History of Canadian Law, Volume IX, Two Islands: Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island
edited by Christopher English, Department of History, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 2005. Voices from the East beyond the Northumberland and Cabot Straits. This volume of essays on the legal histories of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland opens with innovative essays on the historiography of two ‘island’ jurisdictions of Atlantic… Read more »
-
The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, 1754 – 2004: From Imperial Bastion to Provincial Oracle
edited by Philip Girard, Professor, Dalhousie Law School, Jim Phillips, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, and Barry Cahill, independent scholar. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 2004. This volume was prepared to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Canada’s oldest surviving common law court. The thirteen… Read more »
-
The Heiress versus the Establishment: Mrs. Campbell’s Campaign for Legal Justice
by Constance Backhouse, Professor of Law, University of Ottawa, and Madam Justice Nancy Backhouse, Superior Court of Justice, Ontario. Published with University of British Columbia Press, 2004. In 1940 Elizabeth Campbell published a remarkable book Where Angels Fear to Tread telling the story of her determined battle against much of Ontario’s legal establishment as she endeavoured… Read more »
-
Essays in the History of Canadian Law, Volume VIII: In Honour of R.C.B. Risk
edited by G. Blaine Baker & Jim Phillips. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1999. Collections of essays are usually organised around a particular theme. This book, which represents Canadian legal historians’ tribute to Professor Dick Risk, is, at first glance, something of an exception to that practice. The essays here cover subjects which range… Read more »
-
Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900-1950
by Constance Backhouse, Professor of Law, University of Ottawa. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1999. Colour-Coded has been translated into French and published in Quebec as De La Couleur des Lois: White supremacy had a tenacious hold on the historical roots of the Canadian legal system. Backhouse presents convincing case studies to illustrate how… Read more »
-
"Race", Rights and the Law in the Supreme Court of Canada: Historical Case Studies
by James St. G. Walker, Professor of History and Associate Chair of Graduate Studies at the University of Waterloo. Published with Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1997. Professor James Walker is a distinguished historian who has made a substantial contribution to understanding the role of minority groups, especially aboriginal populations and those of African ancestry, in the… Read more »
-
Essays in the History of Canadian Law, Volume VII: Canadian Law Firms in Historical Perspective
Edited by Carol Wilton. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1996. This seventh volume in our Essays series, is a pioneering study of an important but neglected Canadian institution. It offers numerous cases studies of Canadian law firms as well as more general analyses. These essays highlight significant periods in the history of a variety… Read more »
-
Canadian State Trials, Volume I: Law, Politics, and Security Measures, 1608-1837
edited by F. Murray Greenwood, Emeritus Professor of History, University of British Columbia and Barry Wright, Professor, Department of Law, Carleton University. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1996. State trials reveal much about a nation’s insecurities and shed light on important themes in political, constitutional, and legal history. In Canada, perceived and real threats… Read more »
-
Bad Judgment: The Case of Mr. Justice Leo A. Landreville
by William Kaplan. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1996. Out of Print. Bad Judgment is a quintessential fall-from-grace story about a man from humble beginnings who rose to the top of the legal profession in Canada, only to be removed from the bench because of his bad judgment, the intolerant attitudes of the… Read more »