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Through tort law development, this book adopts a new and innovative approach to writing legal history in Australia.
List of contents
1. Introduction; 2. Historiography and the history of Australian private law in the first half of the twentieth century: Et in Arcadia Ego?; 3. Avoiding and interpreting the 'refinements of English law': Defamation in Australia 1901-45; 4. Politics, politicians, the press and the law of defamation; 5. Negligence and the boundaries of liability: liability for acts of third parties; 6. Negligence and the vexing question of shock-induced harm; 7. Negligence and the boundaries of liability: government and quasi-government liability; 8. In defence of King and country; 9. Environment and Australian tort law: the problem of fire and weeds; 10. Sport and recreation: tort law and the national pastime 1901-45; 11. Conclusion.
About the author
Mark Lunney is a Professor in the School of Law at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia. He has researched and published extensively in the law of tort and legal history including Tort Law: Text and Materials, 5th edition (with Donal Nolan and Ken Oliphant, 2013) and The Law of Torts in Australia, 5th edition (with Kit Barker, Peter Cane and Francis Trindade, 2012). He is a member of the World Tort Law Society.
Summary
Argues that Australian discussions of law should be seen through the lens of British race patriotism. Only then can it be recognised that there were distinctively Australian contributions to developing the common law of tort in the first half of the twentieth century.
