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
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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 »
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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 »
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"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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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Essays in the History of Canadian Law, Volume VI: British Columbia and the Yukon
edited by Hamar Foster and John Mclaren, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1995. This sixth volume in the distinguished series on the history of Canadian law turns to the central theme in the history of British Columbia and the Yukon – law and order. In the early days of… Read more »
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Speedy Justice: The Tragic Last Voyage of His Majesty’s Vessel Speedy
by Brendan O’Brien. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1992. This is at once a legal-historical work of major interest and an exciting re-creation of the famous 1804 Lake Ontario shipwreck. The ship was sailing from Toronto to Eastern Ontario for the Assizes. As dusk descended on the lake, anxious watchers huddled near a bonfire… Read more »
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The Genesis of The Canadian Criminal Code of 1892
by Desmond Brown. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1989. In 1892 the Canadian Parliament enacted the Criminal Code. Drafted in just over a year by a justice department consisting of fourteen men occupying six offices, it was the first such code to be enforced in a self-governing jurisdiction in the British empire. As such,… Read more »
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The Odyssey of John Anderson
Patrick Brode, Legal Counsel, City of Windsor. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1989. Just before the outbreak of the American Civil War, a sensational case was heard in Toronto which captured headlines throughout North America and Europe. John Anderson, a fugitive slave who had been living quietly near Brantford, Ontario, was accused of having… Read more »