Although there are gaps in knowledge, it is still possible to construct a periodization of institutional developments from the literature. In doing this, the first part of this review examines changes in the substantive criminal law, the courts, punishment, policing and prosecution. This is done with reference to broader considerations of societal criminality, political culture, social reform, and attitudes toward deviance and disorder. This review is ordered both chronologically and, within the chronology, by topics and jurisdictions. There are three principal stages to the chronology. The first, from about 1760 until about 1840, involves the ways in which the unreformed criminal justice system inherited from Britain was transplanted and partially adapted to local conditions. The second period, from about 1840 to confederation, saw developments such as the consolidation of colonial criminal codes, changing attitudes toward and practices in the newly founded penitentiaries, the early history of Canadian policing, and the emerging role of institutions of urban social control. The third period, from confederation to 1920, involved new political arrangements, the changes wrought by industrialization, and the effect of western settlement. The second part of this review examines a number of thematic issues in criminal justice history across the period 1750 to 1920 and also across the disparate provinces and regions of the country. The unifying theme is the role played by criminal justice in social life, social ordering, and the maintenance of political authority. 432-item reading list