Yankee from Olympus: Justice Holmes and His Family [Hardcover]

Catherine Drinker Bowen (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 475 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (1944)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000O02HP2
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,582,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Popular in approach, but not shallow, August 26, 2005

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yankee from Olympus: Justice Holmes and His Family (Hardcover)

As straight history or biography, this might not rate 5 stars, but as interesting history that captures time and place perfectly and flesh-and-blood biography that demands we observe actual people in the real world, this is a superb work. It basically relates three generations of the Holmes family of Boston, beginning with The Reverend Abiel Holmes, who lost his parrish for being too old-fashioned and hell-fire Calvinist for his congregation; his son, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, author of AUTOCRAT OF THE BREAKFAST TABLE and other works and a Harvard professor of medicine; and his son, Oliver Wendell Holmes, jr, wounded three times in the Civil War, lawyer, and eventual Justice of the Supreme Court, where he became known as "The Great Dissenter" for disagreeing with majority opinions of the Court, usually arguing for less government control and more personal freedoms. Bowen does write with the point of view of a novelist, inventing dialogue and getting into her characters' heads in a way only a novelist could do. But she embellishes rather than distorts, I think. And the book is a joy to read and has the feel of authority and deep knowledge. I actually found it hard to put down, especially in the first half of the book. Highly recommended.