As the subtitle- ""A Complete Guide to the Jury System"" would indicate, this is less an investigation of ideas behind the subject that a demonstration of practises. There is, however, an adequate summary of the evolution of the jury concept in England and the U.S. But the book's main values lies in its explanations of such terms as voir dire, tort, due process and nolo contendere. Each point is made very patiently and then reiterated in the form of an apposite anecdote. The accepted functions of the other ""actors in the drama""-- judges, lawyers and witnesses are described. All in all, a useful book, for anyone expecting to become a venireman, in spite of its consistently reassuring tone. The inclusion, among the appendices, of Blackstone's all but unobtainable ""Nature of Laws in General"" is one of the better services the book performs.