The Library and Reading List

Nicholas McBride, Letters to a Law Student, Pearson 2013 - A general introduction to studying law.

Nick Hayes, The Book of Trespass, Bloomsbury 2021 - A really good example of how critical thinking can completely change the way you view the world.

Allan Hutchinson, Is Eating People Wrong? Great Legal Cases and How they Shaped the World, CUP 2011 - Another good introduction to English Law which introduces you to some of the most notable and occasionally gruesome common law cases.

As a Warwick student you will be expected to understand the law in context and to undertake critical analysis. If you haven't come across the Secret Barrister, I would recommend reading his books. They are very accessible and well written critiques of our legal system. There are two: Stories of the Law and How it is Broken, and Fake Law.

Raymond Wacks, Philosophy of Law: A Very Short Introduction, OUP 2014 - This is closely linked to the second term half module Legal Theory, which is a discursive subject covering the philosophical underpinnings of the law.

Foucault’s Discipline and Punish (the first chapter at least), Penguin 1991 - recommended by your Criminal Law lecturers.

The Law Show - Radio 4's long-running legal magazine programme, featuring reports and discussion on matters relating to law. The Law Show is your guide to the law and the legal decisions that have a bearing on everyone in the UK.

Seeing White - Scene on Radio - A-14 part documentary series exploring whiteness in America - where it came from, what it means, and how it works.

There are plenty of films that help you get a feel for some quite complex issues, such as The Big Short for sub-prime mortgages, and, The Laundromat for black hole trusts. For more entertainment (but still something valuable) have a look at TV shows such as Suits, Defending the Guilty and Silk.

Although Learning the Law, by Glanville Williams was first published in 1945, the updated edition (Sweet & Maxwell 2020) is still popular with law students wanting a better idea of how to approach studying law.

Michael Sandel, Justice: What is the Right Thing to Do?, Penguin 2010 - This is also closely linked to the theory elements of your first year core module, Understanding Law in Context. It's also a useful background for any area of law you will be studying at Warwick.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Common Law, Dover Publications 1991 - A rather old text that traces the development of key institutions of the common law and shows interesting interactions and links between them. A dense read for the really committed.

Illan Wall, The Critical Legal Pocketbook, Counterpress 2021 - The Critical Legal Pocketbook provides the tools for law students to uncover the hidden intricacies of law.

The Reith Lectures - The BBC's annual series of lectures from a major academic figure. Former UK judge Jonathan Sumption argues that a decline in the willingness of politics to engage with divisive subjects has been accompanied by an unwelcome rise in the power of the courts.