Whilst the books reviewed here explicitly acknowledge that our understanding of the meaning and function of the rule of law remains limited, they certainly constitute progress in scholarship on the idea. In policy-making, as Heckman and Nelson put it ‘we continue to see value in pursuing a rule of law framework’ (p 13 Global Perspectives on the Rule of Law). By providing a range of critical insights into the rule of law in these two volumes, the editors both give us access to key debates in the field in accessible form and also ensure that the ideas explored by the authors will shape future research on the rule of law