The Civil Law Tradition: An Introduction to the Legal Systems of Western Europe and Latin America John Merryman
Designed for the general reader, this is a concise history and analysis of the civil law tradition, which is dominant in most of Western Europe, all of Latin America, and many parts of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The second edition describes changes in civil law procedures sine the book was first published in 1969, and includes a new chapter on the future of civil law tradition.