Oliver Wendell Holmes

A Life in War, Law, and Ideas

By: Stephen Budiansky

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

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. 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 61, 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.

Drawing on many previously unpublished letters and records, Stephen Budiansky's definitive biography offers the fullest portrait yet of this pivotal American figure, whose zest for life, wit, and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.

©2019 Stephen Budiansky (P)2019 Tantor

Fantastic all around!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The material and the performance were great. I have no basis of comparison but I feel like the text and narration combined beautifully to give a rough approximation of the man himself. Excellent

history of a time and the ensuing evolution of law

great historical piece and solid writing upon the legal questions and challenges of that time.

Best biography of one of the most original thinker

of American jurisprudence. The Holmes model should serve as a model for all of our current supreme Court justices!!

A life well lived

I highly recommend this book to anyone, at any stage of life, because besides being very interesting it is full of many nuggets of wisdom which put life into perspective

Absolutely Fantastic!

A recommended read for anyone interested in US legal history and SCOTUS decisions which continue to influence our lives.