How is modern-day thinking about crime different from that of previous centuries? What are the similarities and differences in attitudes and systems between the civil and common law societies of Europe and North America? These and other questions were addressed at an international conference on crime and criminal justice at The University of Calgary attended by historians, professors of law, judges, and criminologists.

The essays in Part I consider the evolution of criminal law doctrine, and those in Part II analyse the theory and measurement of crime in the past and at present. Parts III and IV examine the courts and prosecution, and Part V assesses the historical roots of the insanity defence and the theory and practice of punishment. The volume will be of interest, across national boundaries, to historians, sociologists, social workers, lawyers, and persons involved in the administration of justice as well as the general reader concerned about civil rights, social values, and justice. The eighteen contributors include F.H. Baker, J.M. Beattie, W.A. Calder, T.C. Curtis, D. Hay, H. Diederiks, A. Lachance, His Honour W.G. Morrow, A. Soman, and S. Verdun-Jones.