Making Commercial Law Through Practice 1830–1970 Law as Backcloth Law in Context Series

Making Commercial Law Through Practice 1830?1970 adds a new dimension to the history of Britain's commerce, trade manufacturing and financial services, by showing how they have operated in law over the last one hundred and forty years. In the main law and lawyers were not the driving force; regulation was largely absent; and judges tended to accommodate commercial needs, so that market actors were able to shape the law through their practices. Using legal and historical scholarship, the author draws on archival sources previously unexploited for the study of commercial practice and the law's role in it. This book will stimulate parallel research in other subject areas of law. Modern commercial lawyers will learn a great deal about the current law from the story of its evolution, and economic and business historians will see how the world of commerce and trade operated in a legal context.

1. Commercial and Legal Context; 2. The Commodity Markets of London and Liverpool; 3. Agents, 'Agents' and Agency; 4. Sale, Hire and the Distribution of Manufactured Goods; 5. International Commodity Sales; 6. Bank Finance for Trade and Industry.

Ross Cranston is a Professor of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He was previously a High Court Judge for England and Wales 2007–2017, and was Solicitor General for England and Wales 1998–2001.