Abstract
During the past eighteen months, those of us involved in teaching and research in criminal law have been treated to new editions of a number of established texts.' It is often said to be one of the advantages of working in the subject that one is spoilt for choice amongst so many excellent books. However, it is refreshing to see a newcomer in the field, in the form of Chris Clarkson and Heather Keating's Text and Materials, which takes a very different approach to that of the established texts both in the view taken of the proper scope of criminal law study (through the integration of questions traditionally divided between fields of 'criminal law' and 'criminal justice') and in the style of presentation (through a mixture of commentary and substantial excerpts from cases, books and articles). In this review, I shall consider two issues relating to these major differences, concentrating on the treatment in each book under review of the general principles of criminal liability. First, as my title suggests, I shall consider the relative merits of the wider and narrower views of the territory of the criminal law presented in the two books. Secondly, I shall raise some questions about the function of textbooks in legal education in general and criminal law teaching in particular. What are the characteristics of a good textbook; why do we use them, and are we justified in doing so?
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