Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law, and Ideas

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Law, Federal Jurisdiction, Legal History, Biography & Memoir, Reference
Cover of the book Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law, and Ideas by Stephen Budiansky, W. W. Norton & Company
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Stephen Budiansky ISBN: 9780393634730
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Publication: May 28, 2019
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company Language: English
Author: Stephen Budiansky
ISBN: 9780393634730
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication: May 28, 2019
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English

The extraordinary story of the U.S. Supreme Court’s most influential justice.

Oliver Wendell Holmes twice escaped death as a young Union officer in the Civil War when musket balls missed his heart and spinal cord by a fraction of an inch at the Battles of Ball’s Bluff and Antietam. He lived ever after with unwavering moral courage, unremitting scorn for dogma, and an insatiable intellectual curiosity.

Named to the Supreme Court by Theodore Roosevelt at age sixty-one, he served for nearly three decades, writing a series of famous, eloquent, and often dissenting opinions that would prove prophetic in securing freedom of speech, protecting the rights of criminal defendants, and ending the Court’s reactionary resistance to social and economic reforms.

As a pioneering legal scholar, Holmes revolutionized the understanding of common law by showing how the law always evolved to meet the changing needs of society. As an enthusiastic friend and indefatigable correspondent, he wrote thousands of personal letters brimming with humorous philosophical insights, trenchant comments on the current scene, and an abiding joy in fighting the good fight.

Drawing on many previously unpublished letters and records, Stephen Budiansky’s definitive biography offers the fullest portrait yet of this pivotal American figure, whose zest for life, wit, and intellect left a profound legacy in law and Constitutional rights, and who was an inspiring example of how to lead a meaningful life in a world of uncertainty and upheaval.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The extraordinary story of the U.S. Supreme Court’s most influential justice.

Oliver Wendell Holmes twice escaped death as a young Union officer in the Civil War when musket balls missed his heart and spinal cord by a fraction of an inch at the Battles of Ball’s Bluff and Antietam. He lived ever after with unwavering moral courage, unremitting scorn for dogma, and an insatiable intellectual curiosity.

Named to the Supreme Court by Theodore Roosevelt at age sixty-one, he served for nearly three decades, writing a series of famous, eloquent, and often dissenting opinions that would prove prophetic in securing freedom of speech, protecting the rights of criminal defendants, and ending the Court’s reactionary resistance to social and economic reforms.

As a pioneering legal scholar, Holmes revolutionized the understanding of common law by showing how the law always evolved to meet the changing needs of society. As an enthusiastic friend and indefatigable correspondent, he wrote thousands of personal letters brimming with humorous philosophical insights, trenchant comments on the current scene, and an abiding joy in fighting the good fight.

Drawing on many previously unpublished letters and records, Stephen Budiansky’s definitive biography offers the fullest portrait yet of this pivotal American figure, whose zest for life, wit, and intellect left a profound legacy in law and Constitutional rights, and who was an inspiring example of how to lead a meaningful life in a world of uncertainty and upheaval.

More books from W. W. Norton & Company

Cover of the book Swearing Is Good for You: The Amazing Science of Bad Language by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book How to Lie with Statistics by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book Understanding Green Building Materials by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book The Kennan Diaries by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book Affect Regulation and the Repair of the Self (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book The God of Nightmares by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book In the Image: A Novel by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book Vice: New and Selected Poems by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book Richard Temple: A Novel by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book Positive Psychology in the Elementary School Classroom by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book The Fourth Dimension of a Poem: and Other Essays by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book A Human Eye: Essays on Art in Society, 1996-2008 by Stephen Budiansky
Cover of the book Autism and the Family: Understanding and Supporting Parents and Siblings by Stephen Budiansky
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy