'A fascinating contribution to critical legal thought in the United States. Desautels-Stein revisits and reinterprets American legal pragmatism alongside late twentieth century efforts to assess and critique its practice. His direct informal style brings complex theoretical debates to life.' David Kennedy, Harvard Law School, Massachusetts
Overture; 1. The rise and fall of the Harvard School; 2. Towards a jurisprudence of style; 3. Structure and style in time; 4. The classical style 5. The modern style; 6. Liberal legalism and the context of legal thought; 7. American pragmatism; 8. Liberal legalism is dead: long live liberal legalism; 9. Trompe L'oeil liberalism; Coda.