John G. Johnson, who died in 1917, became a legend soon after his death. His prodigious intellect and energy, his consummate skill in court, his independence of thought and action are still spoken of with the same awe his name provoked when it was considered the magic answer to almost any knotty problem of law.

This is the first attempt to put this remarkable, nationally famous figure between the covers of a book. His career is traced, step by step, from his humble birth, through his rapid rise in legal circles, to the crowning rewards of his later years when he was considered the...