The Legalist Reformation
Law, Politics, and Ideology in New York, 1920-1980
By William E. Nelson
472 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, notes, index
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Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8078-5504-1
Published: September 2003 -
E-book EPUB ISBN: 978-0-8078-7556-8
Published: January 2003 -
E-book PDF ISBN: 979-8-8908-7292-0
Published: January 2003
Studies in Legal History
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- Paperback $42.50
- E-Book $29.99
Ultimately, says William Nelson, a new legal ideology was created. By the late 1930s, New Yorkers had begun to reconceptualize social conflict not along class lines but in terms of the power of majorities and the rights of minorities. In the process, they constructed a new approach to law and politics. Though doctrinal change began to slow by the 1960s, the main ambitions of the legalist reformation--liberty, equality, human dignity, and entrepreneurial opportunity--remain the aspirations of nearly all Americans, and of much of the rest of the world, today.
About the Author
William E. Nelson is Edward Weinfeld Professor of Law at New York University School of Law.
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Reviews
"Confident and successful. . . . Ranges across decades to depict the transformation of the common law of New York in the twentieth century. . . . A major contribution to twentieth-century American legal history. It goes into extraordinary depth into New York common law across the century and considers how one influential state legal system . . . met the legal demands of religious and ethnic diversity."--Law and History Review
"Nelson's vision is expansive, his research prodigious, his analysis insightful, and his achievement impressive. . . . This fresh research is scholarship of the first order, in itself a major contribution."--Journal of American History
"Drawing on a beautifully detailed study of thousands of court opinions and life in New York, William Nelson reveals how twentieth century common law jurists brought together the diverse racial, ethnic, and religious factions in the state."--Harvard Law Review
"This splendid book was fifteen years in the making, and it sets a new and very high standard for studies of American legal history in the twentieth century. It is based on intensive work in an immense body of source material."--American Historical Review
"Nowhere is the concept of the law as an evolving, dynamic, and progressive force in modern American society better espoused than in this seminal, exhaustive piece of legal and historical research. . . . This scholarly work is highly recommended for academic and law libraries."--Library Journal
"An excellent history of our most influential state legal system. A brilliant achievement."--Morton J. Horwitz, Harvard Law School