Ranters Run Amok: And Other Adventures in the History of the Law [Hardcover]

Leonard W. Levy (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1566632773 | ISBN-13: 978-1566632775 | Publication Date: January 10, 2000

The Pulitzer Prize–winning constitutional historian Leonard Levy here collects eight of his most important essays of recent years. Written with his characteristic erudition, clarity, directness, and verve, these explorations into the history of the law are at once an entertainment and an education. Mr. Levy begins with a long essay on the Ranters, the ornery radicals who confronted the state and repudiated the moral law in mid-seventeenth-century England. He continues with anecdotes about Supreme Court justices and—a highlight of the book—a fascinating behind-the-scenes view of the deliberation over the Pulitzer Prizes. His chronicle of a long debate with Harvard University Press over the publication of his book on blasphemy is eye-opening and confounding. He concludes with essays on the origins of the Fourth Amendment; on the critics of his prize-winning study of the Fifth Amendment; and on Lemuel Shaw, chief justice of Massachusetts from 1830 to 1860, whom Mr. Levy calls America's greatest magistrate. Together these essays are continuing proof of Mr. Levy's unmatched powers in producing readable and important scholarship.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ostensibly a collection of miscellaneous essays on legal history, this latest from legal historian Levy is an often unintentionally amusing account of academic infighting. In 1969, Levy's Origins of the Fifth Amendment won the Pulitzer Prize in history, "making it an attractive target for critics." Here he settles accounts with anyone who criticized that book as well as several others written in his long career. He cites his critics by name, eviscerating them for their deceptiveness, irrelevance and sarcasm, their tendency to "attack" him, to "persistently misrepresent [him], even on trivial matters" and to misspell his name. In one astonishing chapter, he recounts how Harvard University Press, "whor[ing] after a best-seller," initially rejected his manuscript on the history of blasphemy. After two eminent readers of his own choosing submitted negative critiques, an enraged Levy wrote HUP a bilious, defensive 13-page letter, which he produces here in full ("I am an amateur, but I do not think I'm incompetent. Nor do I believe that I am unfair or prejudiced. I suspect that my reader is unfair to me. But I'm used to that sort of reaction"). Most of the rest of this volume consists of straightforward, densely detailed essays on the historical context of the Fourth Amendment, the published opinions of Massachusetts Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw and the 17th-century English religious anarchists known as "Ranters." Accomplished though they are, these chapters seem like afterthoughts in a work devoted mainly to airing personal grievances 30 years old. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Levy, a constitutional historian and Pulitzer Prize winner (Origins of the Fifth Amendment), offers an anthology of eight interpretive essays on the history of law, a field he studies "to discover what mankind has been and done and thought." In mid-17th-century England Ranters were antinomianists who repudiated moral law in both religious and political practices. In his essay on the Ranters, Levy emphasizes the procedural, substantive, and cultural underpinnings of the law. He continues this theme with an analysis of the origins of the Fourth Amendment's right against self-incrimination. Two essays show academic conflicts concerning the quality of historical works, including his own conflicts with Harvard University Press over a book on blasphemy and an unusual essay on the inner workings of the Pulitzer committee. The book's careful arguments will interest readers concerned with law, history, and the development of civil rights. Strongly recommended for larger public libraries and academic libraries.
-Steven Puro, St. Louis Univ.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 253 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (January 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566632773
• ISBN-13: 978-1566632775
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,205,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb collection of informative, thoughtful essays., April 7, 2000

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ranters Run Amok: And Other Adventures in the History of the Law (Hardcover)

These essays on the history of the law provide a wide range ofinsights; from the early Ranters who confronted moral laws in Englandto modern-day anecdotes about the Supreme Court. From a debate with Harvard University Press over the publication of his book on blasphemy to essays covering the origins of amendments, this provides an excellent set of legal experiences.