A biography of the life and work of Louis Brandeis who became the first Jewish justice on his appointment to the US Supreme Court in 1916. A crusader for progressive causes, he helped draft social-welfare and labour legislation.
"A superb work. Required reading for all who would better understand the role of Brandeis in the making of modern America."
Choice"[Strums] study very effectively utilizes original sources, including the extensive correspondence of Brandeis, to depict the gradual maturation of a political spokesman whose ideas never quite found comfort with the dominant political discourses of his age."The Review of Politics
"Strum has created an insightful study of the thinking and accomplishments of a jurist whose impact on America's economic structure has been felt and will continue to be felt far into the future."Presidential Studies Quarterly
"Strums book provides scholars and students of Brandeis and of the progressive and New Deal eras with a provocative thesis. She effectively illustrates how Brandeis's quest for individual development can be identified with the radicalism embedded within the Jeffersonian tradition of political thought."Law and History Review
"Strum sees Brandeis as going beyond progressivism in his embrace of industrial democracy, worker ownership, and a new social contract. The chief virtue of her book is a careful delineation of his important ideas and their likely origins."Journal of American History
"If there are any who doubt that Louis Brandeis is one of the truly great Americans of this century, let them read this book. Strum has brilliantly explicated Brandeis's ideas to show their applicability not only to his times, but to ours as well."Melvin I. Urofsky, author of A March of Liberty and coeditor (with David W. Levy) of Half Brother, Half Son: The Letters of Louis D. Brandeis to Felix Frankfurter
"Strum has mastered virtually all of the relevant materials relating to the thought of this central figure. She has combined these materials with her own marvelous insight and penetrating intelligence. As an exposition of the evolution of Brandeiss ideas, there is nothing else in print that even comes close to equaling this book."David W. Levy, author of The Life and Thought of Herbert Croly
"The most practical and sophisticated of all American judges has been Louis Brandeis. This gem of a book is the best short study of the totality of his life, thought, and work, on and off the bench."Norman Dorsen, professor of law, New York University, and President, American Civil Liberties Union 19761991
"Philippa Strum has here produced a wonderful, readable, and politically meaningful discussion of the ideas of one of America's great thinkers on issues of politics and economicsand on the interrelation of politics and economics."H. N. Hirsch, author of The Enigma of Felix Frankfurter and A Theory of Liberty: The Constitution and Minorities
"Concise and insightful. Strum shows how Brandeiss ideas about industrial organization, Zionism, and the rights and duties of citizenship derived from his experiences as a lawyer, and why we should locate Brandeis in the tradition of American pragmatism."Mark Tushnet, author of Red, White, and Blue: A Critical Analysis of Constitutional Law
