This fourth edition of Law in Context not only updates the text by reference to the latest thinking and developments in the broad area of law in context, but also introduces readers to the wider social, political and regulatory contexts of law.


Bottomley and Bronitt, as in previous editions, expose readers to the multitude of contexts (some explicit, others implicit) that affect how law is made, broken and enforced by the state or individual citizens. The fundamental ideals of law such as the Rule of Law rest on cherished liberal values, though the authors constantly encourage readers not to accept uncritically the rhetoric of law, but to test these assumptions through empirical eyes.