(From the introduction to the book)

The following pages contain a reprint of a series of articles upon the chief epochs in the history of English law which were contributed to Social England, edited by H. D. Traill, D.C.L. (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1899), by the late Prof. Frederic W. Maitland of Cambridge University, and Prof. Francis C. Montague of University College,London. These articles supplied what long had been needed for general readers and for law student -- a brief but comprehensive, accurate but untechnical account of the origin and growth of English law. ... this series of articles now forms the best available introduction to English legal history.