1971
First Published
4.11
Average Rating
561
Number of Pages
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in history and a landmark in the study of constitutional origins, Leonard Levy's now-classic study appears for the first time in paperback. Origins probes the intentions of the framers of the Fifth Amendment and emphasizes their belief that in a society based upon respect for the individual, it is more important that the accused not unwillingly contribute to his conviction than that the guilty be punished. "A work of monumental scholarship―broad in scope, thorough, carefully annotated, accurate, and imaginative."― Political Science Quarterly . "Vastly learned...everywhere critical and reflective...written in a style at once lucid and vigorous. All in all, it is quite clearly one of the important contributions to historical literature."―Henry Steele Commager. "A matchless contribution to our understanding of the historical background underlying the adoption of a major provision of the Bill of Rights."― American Political Science Review . "A masterful job."―Oscar Handlin.
Avg Rating
4.11
Number of Ratings
19
5 STARS
47%
4 STARS
21%
3 STARS
26%
2 STARS
5%
1 STARS
0%
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Author
Leonard W. Levy
Author · 10 books
Leonard Williams Levy was the Andrew W. Mellon All-Claremont Professor of Humanities and Chairman of the Graduate Faculty of History at Claremont Graduate School, California. He was educated at Columbia University, where his mentor for the Ph.D. degree was Henry Steele Commager. Levy's most honored book was his 1968 study Origins of the Fifth Amendment, focusing on the history of the privilege against self-incrimination. This book was awarded the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for History. He wrote almost forty other books. In 1990, Levy was appointed a Distinguished Scholar in Residence; Adjunct Professor of History and Political Science at Southern Oregon State College in Ashland, Oregon.
