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A Life of H. L. A. Hart

A Life of H. L. A. Hart The Nightmare and the Noble Dream

Author: Nicola Lacey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199202775
Published In: April 2006
Format: Paperback , 456 pages
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
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Sheds light on the genesis of Hart's ideas and the scale of his contribution to legal and political philosophy
An intellectual history of trends in 20th century legal, social, philosophical, and political thought
Hart's profound personal and professional doubts raise fascinating questions about the nature of intellectual creativity

Shortlisted for the 2005 British Academy Book prize, Nicola Lacey's entrancing biography recounts the life of H.L.A. Hart, the pre-eminent legal philosopher of the twentieth century. Following Hart's life from modest origins as the son of Jewish tailor parents in Yorkshire to worldwide fame as the most influential English-speaking legal theorist of the post-War era, the book traces his successive metamorphoses; from Yorkshire schoolboy to Oxford scholar, from government intelligence officer to Professor of Jurisprudence, from awkward batchelor to family figurehead.

In the tradition of Ray Monk's biography of Wittgenstein, Nicola Lacey paints an absorbing picture of intellectual and psychological development, of a mind struggling to cope with intellectual self-doubt, uncertain sexuality, a difficult marriage and an anti-semitic society. In depicting the evolution of Hart's life and mind, Lacey provides a vivid recreation of both the intellectual and social climate of Oxford in the post-War era.

Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Biographer's Note on Approach and Sources
Introduction: An Outsider on the Inside
I North and South
1: Harrogate, Cheltenham, Bradford
2: An Oxford Scholar
3: Success Snatched from Defeat: London and the Bar
II Change and Continuity
4: Jenifer
5: From the Inns of Court to Military Intelligence: MI5, Marriage, and Fatherhood
6: Oxford from the Other Side of the Fence
III The Golden Age
7: Selling Philosophy to the Lawyers: The Chair of Jurisprudence
8: American Jurisprudence through English Eyes: Harvard 1956 - 7
9: Law in the Perspective of Philosophy: Causation in the Law, The Concept of Law
10: West and East, California and Israel: Law, Liberty, and Morality; Kelsen Visited; The Morality of the Criminal Law
11: Discipline, Punishment, and Responsibility
IV After the Chair
12: Old Turks and Young Fogeys: Bentham and Brasenose
13: The Nightmare and the Noble Dream
Notes
Bibliography
Biographical Details of Figures Appearing in the Book
Index

Nicola Lacey, Professor of Criminal Law, London School of Economics; Adjunct Professor of Social and Political Theory, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University

"Overall this is an outstanding biography of a fascinating personality which will appeal to readers interested in Hart, jurisprudence or Oxford academic life." - The Journal of Intelligence History