This book contains a number of propositions about the variation of law across social space. The purpose of these propositions is to predict and explain this variation, and so to contribute to a scientific theory of law. Theory of this kind has practical applications, and also applications to the study of other social life High praise from the reviewers: "...brilliant...a major breakthrough...a crashing classic." LAURA NADER FROM A PREPUBLICATION REVIEW "Occasionally - perhaps once in a decade - there comes a sociological book that makes a difference because it reports that a new set of important facts has been creatively assembled... These volumes become classics. The Behavior of Law is one of them." DONALD R. CRESSEY IN SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH "This book has already been hailed as the most important contribution ever made to the sociology of law. It is that and more." LAWRENCE W. SHERMAN IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY