Landmarks in the Law was written to satisfy Lord Denning’s desire “ to write just one more book” . He tells us in his preface that, as he was casting about to decide what this “ one more book” 1 might be about, he thought that he would like to write a play. He gave this idea up because he could not think of a plot. Next, he dallied with the idea of a novel. He gave this idea up also because, as he states it, “ I could not invent the characters or situations” .2 So, preferring fact to fiction, he once more turned to the law.

Having decided that this “once more book” would be about the law, the next question was “ what part of the law” ? 3 He rejected the idea of a textbook or of a treatise on jurisprudence because, to use his own words, he “ was never any good at things of that kind” .4 The outcome was Landmarks o f the Law, a book about great cases of the past that have gone to make England’s constitution.

The title of the book is very appropriate. All of the cases included in Lord Denning’s “ one more book” are landmark cases. They are cases that should be known to every student of the law or of history. Altogether too often, they are not. At best, many have but a nodding acquaintance, if any knowledge at all, of these cases which are likened to “lighthouses from which our forefathers have taken their bearings” .

The book is not a connected story with a central theme. It was not intended to be. Instead, it is a book — a “ hotchpotch” , Lord Denning calls it — 6 into which one can dip at will. The cases included portray dramatic situations that involve characters that are real and scenes that are true. To add color to the cases, Lord Denning has added sketches and stories about those involved one way or another in the cases, as well as about the situations that the cases present. Sufficient background material is provided to give a clear understanding of what each case is all about.