"Beyond reasonable doubt" and "probable cause" : historical perspectives on the Anglo-American law of evidence /

With scholarly credentials in the areas of rhetoric, history, and the law, Shapiro is well qualified to prepare this very eclectic inquiry into the historical evolution of two key Anglo-American legal principles: "beyond reasonable doubt" and "probable cause." This appears to be the only book-length study of its kind, and it is surely an excellent piece of scholarship. (The notes alone comprise more than 100 pages.) Using sources in the realms of law, history, religion, and philosophy, the author clearly documents the degree to which these two key legal doctrines have evolved over time and the degree to which they reflect a migration of evidentiary principles. The book has some similarities to Lief H. Carter's Reason in Law (3rd ed., 1988) and Lawrence S. Wrightsman's Psychology and the Legal System (2nd ed., 1991). Graduate collections. R. A. Carp; University of Houston