This second edition of an influential and insightful book maintains its originality... it is greatly enhanced by the inclusion of recent debates, including globalization, surveillance, the war on terror and the ways in which the law increasingly pervades into every aspect of civil and social life in advanced societies. This edition should easily comprise a core text for a range of academics and students either as an introduction to the pervasiveness of the law for those with a social science background, as an introduction to the social elements of the legal arena for those with a legal background or as a useful eclectic text for those looking for key insights into wide ranging criminological, sociological and legal debates. The charm of the text is its accessibility which is not detrimental to its academic importance, making a scholarly contribution to the socio legal field Diane Lister Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tromsø, Norway Undoubtedly succeeds as a text… Its value rests on its ability to integrate an accessible style with numerous examples from varied jurisdictions which students from both the legal and sociological disciplines will benefit enormously. Accordingly, this book comes highly recommended International Journal of the Sociology of Law Praise for the First Edition