Hartog reviews Banner, "American Property"

In our Sunday book review round-up, we noted a review by Hendrik Hartog (Princeton University) of a "secret history of property". Only subscribers to the Nation may access the full content, so we couldn't tell you much more, but we now have additional information: Hartog reviews American Property: A History of How, Why, and What We Own (Harvard University Press), by Stuart Banner (UCLA).

The review will interest legal historians, law professors, and all those lawyers out there who took Property Law and just didn't get it. Done right, Hartog explains, Property Law offers students much more than Bar prep: behind the musty curtain of the "rule against perpetuities" and the like is a window into how power operates in society. American Property attempts to give lay readers that "secret knowledge." Hartog's review adds a few secrets that Banner leaves out.

This is a long review, and we can't do it justice here. If you can find a way to access the full text, it will be worth your while.