Hello friends. I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National

Constitution Center and welcome to We The People weekly show of

constitutional debate. The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan non-profits chartered by Congress to increase

awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.

I sat down recently with Peter Slen of C-SPAN to discuss the life and career of

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. We focused on his celebrated and challenging book, The

Common Law. The conversation was aired as part of a C-SPAN series,

Books that Shaped America, which explores key works from American history that had a major impact

on society. This show was streamed live on October 16th, 2003.

Enjoy the show.

And welcome to books that shaped America, our C-SPAN series that looks at how books throughout

our history have influenced who we are today.

In partnership with the Library of Congress, this 10- series looks at different eras, topics, and

viewpoints.

And we're glad you're joining us on this walk through history.

So far, in this series, we've explored America's foundation and its expansion and

we've looked at the issue of slavery. Tonight it's a look at the development of

American law through the eyes of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

and his book, The Common Law.

Written in 1881, it was unique for its time and controversial.

Holmes would later go on to serve on the US Supreme Court for three decades,

and his words continue to influence the legal world and our lives today.

...