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William Pitt Cobbett largely completed the original manuscript of his opus on the Constitution shortly before his death in 1919. While it was intended to be posthumously published, in 1920 the High Court's constitutional jurisprudence radically shifted in the Engineers case ((1920) 28 CLR 129). At the time, this would have required a substantial revision for the work to remain current, and so the manuscript was given to the University of Sydney Law School - of which he had been a Professor and Dean - as a memorial. Now a century on, the manuscript has been carefully and ably transcribed, edited and published for the first time. Those involved are to be greatly thanked. In addition to the text, there is a fascinating biographical note by Professor Anne Twomey and a comprehensive introduction to Cobbett's work outlining what has changed since it was written, what remains the same and his unique insights relevant to today. While the importance of the work is that it paints a portrait of the history and early interpretation of the Constitution up to 1919 before the High Court's decision in Engineers, its value is not merely one of historical interest. As Twomey perhaps understates, it occasionally also shocks with the modernity and prescience of its contents . This is a most important, if not necessary, text for any scholar of Australian legal history and constitutional law. - Queensland Law Reporter - 18 October 2019 - [2019] 41 QLR 7
