Some Recent or Classic Books Printed--Some on Legal Profession, Some Not

Posted By Alan Childress

Following up on my project, with great authors, of bringing back some good old books that went out of print -- or putting out some new ones, such as Lisa Webley's study of lawyering styles in the UK, now on Amazon in paperback -- here is where we are, many now in print form. Admittedly some are on-topic (though Rogelio Perez Perdomo is on-topic for the profession in Venezuela, and in Spanish), while some just aren't but are part of the project so I hope this is useful. In addition to Kindle, Nook, and other ebooks easily found en masse at the Kindle Store, and B&N, etc., here are all the paperbacks out now [or will be listed as available at the link within two days]. All previous works were very well reviewed when first out (hence my interest in them):

1. Jerold Auerbach, Rabbis and Lawyers: The Journey from Torah to Constitution.  First with Indiana U Press, now in paperback; studies the legalism that took over U.S. Jewish leadership in the 20th century and what they meant to Zionism, the Holocaust, and Israel. Disputes the usual meme that Brandeis, Mack, Wise, and Frankfurter were the best leaders for their cause, and that lawyers are always the best leaders generally. Auerbach recently published on the Pueblo Indians, too.

2. G. Edward White, Patterns of American Legal Thought, published by Lexis before and now in paperback. Analyzes the tools and dilemmas of legal historicizing, the origins of gay rights, tort law in the U.S., and insights on Holmes and Brandeis. White has written some 14 books in all and was nominated for a Pulitzer. He is a law prof at UVa with a PhD in History and his JD from Harvard before that.

3. Susan Neiman, Slow Fire: Jewish Notes from Berlin. Was with Schocken, now in paperback, and the author recently wrote 2008's Moral Clarity.  Her debut memoirs were about West Berlin in the 80s, before the Wall fell, and her sometimes surreal experiences living there as an American and as a Jew. They did not call cigarettes Salem because it sounded too Jewish. Insightful period piece and very witty from the Director of the Einstein Forum. Jeff loved this book and suggested I ask Neiman to re-up it. 

4. Grandfather J. B.:  Letters to my Grandson.  Memoirs in letters by Joseph Bercovici to his poly sci grandson Joel Grossman, now at Johns Hopkins, during the 60s. Published by Little, Brown before. Explores the nuances of English from a self-taught immigrant, and a family of prodigies seen through his acerbic and sometimes naive letters. Even explains why irregardless is wrong, and chastises Joel for his VW bug.

5. Cardozo's The Nature of the Judicial Process (also on Amazon main site), featuring new Foreword by Andrew Kaufman, law professor at Harvard and his premier biographer. Just out and should be the standard work since it is much more legible and modern than the original Yale print run but still embeds its page numbers for citing. Includes photographs and  interesting bio information on Cardozo. Does not engage the question whether Cardozo was the first Hispanic Justice, though Kaufman has been interviewed on  that. Cardozo looks like Conan. Kaufman, who was punctual as all get out and kind, is shown left. He is on-topic for the blog, since he wrote the first casebook on legal ethics in the U.S.

6. My own The Annotated Common Law (also on Amazon), adding some 200 notes to Holmes's classic book, to decode and demystify it. Translates Latin and Greek but mostly makes it modern, in both the print presentation and in bringing his phrasings up to date. Also defines legal terms and updates legal concepts so even nonlawyers and history buffs would read this with a clear understanding. Most versions of this book are hard to read in content and even in presentation; the digital books had been error-ridden nightmares. Includes my
explanatory Foreword.

7. An unannotated basic, cheap paperback of Holmes but with my Foreword, plus the modern but accurate presentation and embedded pagination missing in most versions, online or print. The Foreword author's most recent book is the coauthored treatise, Federal Standards of Review, 4th ed. 2010, LexisNexis Co., a link to which Lipshaw declared, "That's a 'spensive mother." True, for the Lexis treatise, though the basic The Common Law is like $13, better than most on Amazon; also on Amazon here.

Also from blogging before but now in paperback on Amazon: 1. my students' ethics survey, Hot Topics In The Legal Profession; 2. Kadish & Kadish, Discretion to Disobey; 3. Kitty Calavita, Inside the State: The Bracero Program, Immigration and the INS; 4. Joel Handler, Law and the Search for Community; 5. Peter Gabel's CLS essays, The Bank Teller; and 6. Auerbach's Jacob's Voices. Dean, that is how I spent my summer.