Regulating Lives

... ably illustrates how thoughtful questions and the willingness to pose such queries will, more often than not, steer engaged inquiries in wonderfully creative, unexpected, and intriguing directions ... And thus, if we can safely take Regulating Lives as an indication of the work to follow, the new Law and Society series from UBC Press will be invaluable. - Jonathan Swainger (The Canadian Historical Review, 84:4, December 2003) This book will be of great interest to those intrigued by legal history and, more specifically, the role the law has played in constructing people's lives, perceptions and experiences. - Lindsay Ferguson (Saskatchewan Law Review, Vol. 66) I hope too that it will be widely read on both sides of the Atlantic, both as containing interesting and important history and as inviting debate on the relationship between the data of historical experience and the concepts around which those data are arranged. I am glad that I read it. - Richard W. Ireland (Journal of Law and Society, Sept 2003) John McLaren's study of the seizure and indoctrination of Sons of Freedom children 1950-60 ... is a masterpiece that examines the history of the Sons' attempt to keep their children out of public schools and preserve their unique way of life. Having a firm foot on the ground and in local, provincial, and federal sources, McLaren's work is a model of legal-historical research and writing. This collection could not be more complete ... This is a model study of how local history can inform our past and the making of public policy in the future. - Louis A. Knafla (Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Vol. 18)