While not necessary adoring biography, a respectful review of the career of a great California lawyer, member of the Supreme Court and for 33 years a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. This is an old book from the 1930's when the justice was fresh on the mind.

1592 Stephen J. Field: Craftsman of the Law, by Carl Brent Swisher (read 25 Oct 1980) This is a 1930 book. Field was born 4 Nov 1816 at Haddam, Conn. He arrived in California on 28 Dec 1849. In 1857 he was elected to the California Supreme court. On Mar 10, 1863, he was confirmed as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He resigned effective Dec. 1, 1897, having served 34 years, 8 months and 20 days, the longest any man had served up to that time. I cannot admire him very much--he decided the result he wanted and then figured out how to get there. I believe that one should decide as the law dictates. Furthermore this biography doesn't tell us whether he was corrupt or not, but some things seem suspicious . The Terry business--which my knowledge of was heretofore confined to the note in a casebook about In Re Neagle--was a fascinating story. William Sharon, a U.S. Senator from Nevada from Mar 4, 1875, to March 3, 1881, had a relationship with a woman who later claimed she was his wife. Terry, formerly on the California Supreme Court, married this creature, and the litigation and behavior of Mrs. Terry led eventually to Field's bodyguard, Neagle, shooting Terry. Unbelievable story. This book has no bibliography--I wonder if there is a good book on the matter. ( )