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by: Oliver Wendell Holmes
List Price: $20.00Amazon.com's Price: $18.00 You Save: $2.00 (10%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 347.732634
EAN: 9780226675541
ISBN: 0226675548
Label: University Of Chicago Press
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 374
Publication Date: January 01, 1997
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Sales Rank: 31207
Studio: University Of Chicago Press
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Legendary U.S. Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes is not only a giant in American legal history but is also remarkable for having been a master prose stylist. This collection, edited by Richard Posner, who is himself a federal judge, contains essays, speeches, letters to friends, and legal opinions that give the reader a highly enjoyable look into the thoughts that emanated from a very active mind.
Product Description:
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., has been called the greatest jurist and legal scholar in the history of the English-speaking world. In this collection of his speeches, opinions, and letters, Richard Posner reveals the fullness of Holmes' achievements as judge, historian, philosopher, and master of English style. Thematically arranged, the volume covers a rich variety of subjects from aging and death to themes in politics, personalities, and law. Posner's substantial introduction firmly places this wealth of material in its proper biographical and historical context.
'A first-rate prose stylist, [Holmes] was perhaps the most quotable of all judges, as this ably edited volume shows.'—Washington Post Book World
'Brilliantly edited, lucidly organized, and equipped with a compelling introduction by Judge Posner, [this book] is one of the finest single-volume samplers of any author's work I have seen. . . . Posner has fully captured the acrid tang of him in this masterly anthology.'—Terry Teachout, National Review
'Excellent. . . . A worthwhile contribution to current American political/legal discussions.'—Library Journal
'The best source for the reader who wants a first serious acquaintance with Holmes.'—Thomas C. Grey, New York Review of Books
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Inspiring and Humbling
This is a fantastic and accessible tour through the work of one of the greatest prose stylists of the 20th century--within the law or outside it. Holmes's style is clear-eyed without being cynical, concrete without being simplistic, and erudite without being pedantic. Just when a thought threatens to become wispy and indefinite, Holmes nails it down with a perfect metaphor.
This collection covers a wide range of Holmes's seemingly inexhaustible interests: literature, history, economics, ... Read More
Rating:  - A must for those interested in Holmes and Free Minds
This selection made by Posner gives us an interesting and different approach to Judge Holmes which allow us to discover not only the Judge but the most intimate thoughts of the writer and philosoper who Holmes was.
A must for those interested in Law and Freedom and the human beings who, as Holmes, had no fears to develop a free spirit and to be free individuals.
Rating: - This is an Excellent Read!
The Essential Holmes, edited by Richard A. Posner (judge on the seventh circuit) collects the thoughts of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. via his numerous letters, court opinions, law journal articles and miscelleneous writings. It is a daunting task as Holmes was quite well-learned and something of a polymath, discoursing on everything from metaphysical philosophy to economics to law.
Posner, though, does a great job in editing the letters and pasting the relevant sections into easily digestible ... Read More
Rating: - Beautifully edited - Oliver Wendell Holmes
U.S. Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes has to be one of the most frequently quoted legal scholars and this book walks a reader through his prolific writings. Judge Richard Posner has written some of the most thought-provoking legal books but this one is his editing a compilation of a variety of Holmes' writings that gives well directed insight into Holmes'amazingly creative mind.
Posner's extraordinary introductory facilitates a reader's understanding of Holmes' pearls of wisdom and for ... Read More
Rating: - Genius!
Posner, who is arguably today's most influential legal thinker, has put together an invaluable collection of Justice Holmes' most memorable writings. The combo of Posner selecting Holmes is powerful: the selections invariably present the brilliant Holmes on timeless legal topics. So much brain power is frightening, and we are lucky to be able to get it all in one fairly short book. All the more remarkable is how Holmes' ideas have not aged a bit; the similarities between Holmes and Posner are obvious.
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