An edition of Learned Hand (1994)

Learned Hand

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Learned Hand
Gerald Gunther, Gerald Gunther
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Last edited by IdentifierBot
August 6, 2010 | History
An edition of Learned Hand (1994)

Learned Hand

  • 2 Want to read
  • 1 Have read

A masterful, moving account of the life and work of one of the great judges of the twentieth century, whose work has left a profound mark on our legal, intellectual, and social landscape. The greatest judge never to be appointed to the Supreme Court, Learned Hand is widely considered the peer of Justices Holmes, Brandeis, and Cardozo. In his more than fifty years on the bench, he left an unequaled legacy of lastingly influential writings.

This distinctive biography goes well beyond Hand's official work, however, to depict both a complex human being and the times in which he lived. The first to draw on the enormous collection of the judge's private papers, the eminent constitutional scholar Gerald Gunther vividly portrays a public man consumed by private doubts. Gunther's lively account moves from Hand's childhood in a formidable (and anxiety producing) family of lawyers to his years at Harvard as a studious outsider, his frustrating experience in private law practice, his felt inadequacies in marriage, and his work as a federal judge.

Throughout his life, Hand believed himself unworthy of the accolades bestowed upon him; self-doubt permeated all aspects of his life.

Gunther subtly explores the ties between the modest, uncertain man - a liberal skeptic who was never "too sure [he was] right" - and his public record, and suggests that Hand's personal traits shaped his modest approach to judging: the questioning human being could not help acting that way as a judge. Hand's most enduring legacy is his advocacy of judicial restraint: repeatedly he sounded the dangers of excessive activism in unelected judges.

Yet he mustered the courage to support such basic values as freedom of expression - from his personally costly defense of dissenters amid the hysteria of World War I to his strong affirmation of free speech in his rulings on obscenity and his outspoken attacks on McCarthyism in the 1950s.

This biography also offers the perspective of one of this era's most sensitive public figures on the rich political and social history of the first six decades of the twentieth century.

By examining Hand's voluminous correspondence with such acquaintances as Walter Lippmann, Felix Frankfurter, and Herbert Croly (with whom he was a founding contributor to The New Republic), Gunther illuminates Hand's intense involvement with the public issues of his times, such as his enthusiastic support of Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive party. Gunther gives us a graphic portrait of a complex and uncommon man whose thoughts and words inspired generations of Americans and continue to do so today.

Publish Date
Language
English

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Learned Hand
Learned Hand: The Man and the Judge
July 21, 1998, Harvard University Press
Paperback in English
Cover of: Learned Hand
Learned Hand
April 12, 1997, Random House Value Publishing
Hardcover in English
Cover of: Learned Hand
Learned Hand: The Man And The Judge
December 19, 1995, Books on Tape, Inc.
Audio Cassette
Cover of: Learned Hand
Learned Hand: The Man And The Judge
December 19, 1995, Books on Tape, Inc.
Audio Cassette
Cover of: Learned Hand
Learned Hand: the man and the judge
1994, Knopf
in English - 1st ed.

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Book Details


The Physical Object

Format
Hardcover

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL7680097M
ISBN 10
0517174057
ISBN 13
9780517174050
Library Thing
97489
Goodreads
573199

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Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
August 6, 2010 Edited by IdentifierBot added LibraryThing ID
April 24, 2010 Edited by Open Library Bot Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs.
April 16, 2010 Edited by bgimpertBot Added goodreads ID.
December 14, 2009 Edited by WorkBot link works
April 29, 2008 Created by an anonymous user Imported from amazon.com record