An absorbing and well-written introductory history to Anglo- American law which should edify lawyer and layperson alike. Attorney Knight's book takes its title from the famous quote of Oliver Wendell Holmes: ``The life of the law has not been logic, it has been experience.'' Because ``the meaning of the law is becoming inaccessible not only to the public but to the bar itself,'' Knight presents a cursory but engaging and useful legal history of England and America. His historical vision sees the development of law as a haphazard series of events rather than a planned, grand scheme. Indeed, elaborating on Holmes's maxim, Knight observes, ``Courts are more like theaters than laboratories, and the truth they produce is felt and apprehended, not carefully measured out.'' Thus, Knight recounts legal history as discrete stories of the people and events which have shaped the major ideologies of our law. Eschewing the turgid prose and detail which typify many legal histories, Knight uses the lighter style of a storyteller, which makes for easy and enjoyable reading. The book consists of 21 chapters discussing the origins, development, and modern applications of pivotal concepts including freedom of the press, personal privacy and the rights of the criminally accused. One of the book's strengths is Knight's debunking of many popular myths. For instance, the Magna Carta did not establish a scheme of civil rights for mankind; Sir Thomas More was noble but no ``apostle of religious tolerance''; and England's Star Chamber did not conduct secret trials. No jurisprude, Knight presents little legal philosophy and scant criticism of legal doctrines; rather, he offers a light but compelling account of the life of the law.
Pub Date: May 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-517-79990-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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