About this Book

A historically reconstructed detective story, The Justice andthe Mare's Ale is a case study brought alive by documents,through which readers can explore the way in which law worked inpractice in late - seventeenth century northern England and theways in which criminal law and ordinary life intersected duringthat period.

?It is as gripping as a detective story. Actually AlanMacfarlane's new book is a true detective story, set in theWestmorland in the 1680's.' New Society

?It is an extraordinary story very well told, largely inthe words of the original depositions and other papers in thepublic records and in the extensive Fleming archive.' London Reviewof Books