Vormbaum Thomas Bohlander Michael Editor (2 results)
A Modern History of German Criminal Law
Thomas Vormbaum; Michael Bohlander (editor); Margaret Hiley (translation)
- Hardcover
- First Edition
Seller: killarneybooks, Inagh, CLARE, Irelandkillarneybooks
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Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. Hardcover, xxiii + 304 pages, b&w images in text, NOT ex-library. Book is clean and bright throughout, with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Mild handling wear. Issued without a dust jacket. -- This book presents a systematic and conceptually rich history… of German criminal law from the late 18th century to the present, with a strong emphasis on the interaction between jurisprudence, political context, and legal doctrine. Avoiding a purely chronological narrative, it instead traces the ideological and institutional trajectories that shaped modern German penal law, providing the Anglophone reader with a comprehensive and accessible introduction to a complex and historically layered legal tradition. Vormbaum begins with methodological reflections on how to write legal history, distinguishing between subjective and objective approaches and clarifying his focus on legal-historical periods rather than isolated events. He outlines the importance of understanding criminal law as a historically situated system of ideas, norms, and power relations. The first major section covers the Enlightenment period, situating the emergence of modern penal thought in debates over natural law, punishment, and human dignity. Key figures such as Kant and Feuerbach are analyzed not only for their theoretical contributions but also for their impact on the humanization of penal legislation. The book then turns to the 19th century, a period of increasing legal codification and conceptual refinement. Vormbaum details how French legal models, internal German territorial law, and the Reich Criminal Code of 1871 contributed to a coherent national penal system. He addresses evolving theories of crime, punishment, and the development of criminal procedure, including the role of the judge, the prosecution, open justice, and the introduction of jury trials. The transition to the 20th century is examined as a shift in emphasis from acts to offenders. The text explores the emergence of offender-based criminology and the broader intellectual shifts that prepared the ground for penal reform. Vormbaum devotes considerable attention to the Weimar Republic, analyzing reform movements, legislative changes, and enduring tensions in the theory and practice of criminal law. The section on National Socialism is particularly detailed, exposing how criminal law was reshaped to serve ideological control. Vormbaum investigates how Nazi legal theory redefined key categories of guilt, justice, and punishment, and documents the legal and institutional structures of persecution, including the courts, sentencing, and prison systems. The pathology of this era is dissected as a critical break in the continuity of German legal development. The postwar chapters examine both West and East Germany. For the Federal Republic, the author maps efforts to dismantle the legal architecture of the Nazi regime, the gradual completion of penal reform, and new currents in criminal law theory. The GDR section outlines how criminal law was restructured under socialist principles and how post-unification legal institutions addressed offenses committed during that period. The book concludes with an overview of contemporary developments and enduring legacies. Vormbaum's treatment links doctrinal change with broader cultural and political transformations, making clear that criminal law is never autonomous but always conditioned by its historical environment. As the first in-depth English-language account of this scope, the book fills a crucial gap for comparative legal scholarship. It enables international readers to trace how Germany's criminal law evolved through Enlightenment ideals, totalitarian manipulation, and democratic reconstruction, offering a valuable foundation for understanding both the law's present structure and its normative tensions.
Published by Springer Verlag, 2016
- Softcover
Seller: Revaluation Books, Exeter, United KingdomRevaluation Books
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Paperback. Condition: Brand New. reprint edition. 328 pages. 9.30x6.20x0.74 inches. In Stock.
