David Kennedy (1) (1957–)

David Kennedy has clearly engaged deeply with legal theory, especially American theory, as reflected in his key-stone piece of legal scholarship. His book is truly canonical, for Kennedy traces and presents all leading works of every American legal theorist up to 1990 and some since too. His excerpts are expertly chosen and very well edited. "The Canon of American Legal Thought" is like a digest of the greatest American theorists of law. Yet, his work definitely has not "pre-digested" any of show more it. Instead, he presents the most insightful and incisive of ideas, at times competing with, and at times complementary, with those of other American legal scholars. His work compares very favorable with Lloyd's Jurisprudence, which is the canonical British piece. Pithier, perhaps, equally well researched and as extensive in covering all of the theorists. Because Lloyd's work had already well considered the canonical British legal theorists, including those unfortunate exiles from the continent in Europe's darkest days, Kennedy's task is at once easier yet deeper. David Kennedy was freed to drill deeper in a more delimited field and did so. As a reference, a reader, a textbook, one has the best orientation into the American wilderness of the real. The work reads out as a mirror, polished bright, it reflects back all you bring to it.

Heartily recommended to all students of legal theory, legal philosophy, American intellectual history. It belongs in court clerk's offices so that they may provide their Judge's with broad and deep insights into the bigger picture. One of my most favorite books, you will truly enjoy David Kennedy's clear, crisp, insightful writing. His commentaries on the excerpts he diligently selected and edited are insightful and exemplify fortitur in re, suavitur in modo. Take note! show less

When it comes to my law school textbooks, this one is extremely readable. In terms of density and clarity of ideas some primary texts are tougher to plow through than others but I really enjoyed the biographical works the authors added before each article. Aspects I appreciated in those biographical sections include the history of the scholar's life, a rundown of their cronies and their main influences, and a discussion of what trends in legal thought or in American society may have show more influenced their writing.

I used this text in an American Legal Thought class and we used it as our primary textbook and supplemented it with major cases and outside articles that dealt with the topic of the week.

I might be totally out of touch with the realities of understanding legal texts as a non-lawyer at this point(last semester of law school) but I would say this is a great reader for nearly anyone with a basic understanding of our legal, political, and economic systems. show less