Monday 3 February 2020

Book Review: The Strange Laws of Old England by Nigel Cawthorne (Non-Fiction/History)

Title: The Strange Laws of Old England
Author: Nigel Cawthorne
Publisher: Piatkus

Publication Date: 2014 (2004)
Pages:
266
Format:
Paperback
Genre:
Non-Fiction/History
Source:
Birthday Gift




Did you know that the law requiring a London taxi driver to carry a bale of hay on top of his cab to feed the horse was in force until 1976?

Or that (under a statute of Edward II) all whales washed up on the shore belong to the monarch?

In The Strange Laws of Old England, Nigel Cawthorne takes the reader on an entertaining tour of the wilder shores of the British legal system; he has unearthed an extraordinary (and sometimes plain dotty) collection of the most bizarre and arcane laws that have been enacted over the centuries.

Some of the laws, incredibly, are still in force. It is still illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour... 


The Strange Laws of Old England is another fun text from Nigel Cawthorne exploring some of the bizarre laws of the past, and how long it took for some to be withdrawn! Many of them seem ridiculous even for the time when they were passed, and they are certainly amusing to us today. This is a work you can either read through or dip into now and again when you have five minutes to spare. Either way, you are bound to come across an interesting anecdote or two.

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