Book excerpt: Reprint of the final edition containing revisions made by the author and a biography, along with the supplementary volume by Thomas Mackay. Nicholls [1781-1865] was a pioneering poor-law reformer and administrator. While Great Britain's Poor Law Commissioner he drafted the Irish Poor-Law Act (1832). One of the first to assert that relief bred a culture of dependency and a resistance to work, he advocated the abolition of relief except as a last resort. In addition to the present study he wrote A History of the Scotch Poor Law (1856) and A History of the Irish Poor Law (1856), both of which are available in reprint editions by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Like his other studies, this one relates the evolution of poor laws since the medieval era to economic, social and political history. Notably sophisticated works, they were held in high regard by Sir Leslie Stephen and F.W. Maitland.