Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University of Michigan Law School

Reviews

Legal History

1992

Modernization

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Law

I Hear A Rhapsody: A Reading Of The Republic Of Choice, Donald J. Herzog Jan 1992

I Hear A Rhapsody: A Reading Of The Republic Of Choice, Donald J. Herzog

Reviews

Readers coming to another volume by Lawrence Friedman might well expect a tightly crafted legal history. But this book is quite different. It offers a sweeping account of the transformation of modern law, a synoptic overview of what is finally distinctive about our legal culture, even a broadbrushed portrait of Western individualism. It does so breathlessly, in prose style and velocity. It's sometimes an engaging read, sometimes a distressing one, but-and here's what really matters-never a persuasive one. Or, worse yet, when it is persuasive it's because of its poetic and ideological features, not any kind of rigorous analysis.