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About the Author

Albert W. Alschuler is the Wilson-Dickinson Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. His study of Sir William Blackstone received the 1997 Sutherland Prize of the American Society of Legal Historians
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Works by Albert W. Alschuler

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Justice Holmes is one of the most influential Supreme Court Justices in American history. Understanding him and his influence is key to understanding the history of law in America.

He is mostly idolized. He got some important things right (freedom of speech) but he also got some important things very wrong (eugenics, power and moral absolutes).

This books is best approached by serious students of the law or jurisprudence. While the author addresses his subject well he approaches it in a way that would probably best communicate to law students or lawyers. Since the information was originally used as lecture materials for college level classes this makes sense. There is still a niche out there for an easily read biography that makes some of these same points but with less focus on law and jurisprudence.… (more)
 
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Chris_El | 1 other review | Mar 19, 2015 |
Al Alschuler, in his superb biography, Law Without Values, concluded, “The real Holmes was savage, harsh, and cruel, a bitter and lifelong pessimist who saw in the course of human life nothing but a continuing struggle in which the rich and powerful impose their will on the poor and weak.” “Holmes had a brutal worldview and was indifferent to the welfare of others.” He “sneered at all political and moral causes except eugenics, which he supported in an especially chilling form by advocating the execution of ‘everyone below standard.’”
— History News Network… (more)
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MightyLeaf | 1 other review | May 25, 2010 |

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