Francis Lieber

The 'Definitive Biography.' xiii, 445 pp. Originally published: Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, [1947]. Francis Lieber [1798-1872] was a prominent political philosopher and who helped lay the foundation for the study of political science in the United States. Renowned for his theory of civil liberty, which combined an appreciation for the English concept of decentralized political institutions with the German idea of an overall national purpose, he bridged the intellectual gap between Europe and America. He is best known for drafting guidelines for the humane conduct of the Union army. One of these, General Orders Number 100 (better known as the 'Lieber Code') was adopted by other nations and formed the basis for such international treaties as the Hague Regulations of 1907. A Prussian scholar and political activist, Lieber was imprisoned twice for his liberal activities. He was one of the first university-trained scholars to immigrate to the United States. A scholar of wide interests beyond law and politics, he published studies on economics, statistics, education and penal reform and produced and edited the Encyclopedia Americana, the first work of its kind published in the United States. He was professor of history and political economy at South Carolina College from 1836 to 1856 and professor of history and political science at Columbia College from 1856 to 1865. From 1860 to the end of his life he was a professor of political science at Columbia Law School, where he was renowned for his contributions. 'There have been earlier studies of the career of Francis Lieber, but this book will rank as the definitive biography. The author has not only exhausted the archival material and the voluminous correspondence between this extraordinary German emigre scholar and the hundreds of men whom he knew during his sojourn in America from 1827 to 1872, but he used them to produce a very readable account of Lieber’s career and political and social philosophy.' --Carl Wittke, Indiana Law Review 34:732-734 Frank Freidel [1916-1993] was Charles Warren Professor of American History at Harvard University from 1972 to 1981. After his retirement from Harvard he was the Bullitt Professor of History at the University of Washington in Seattle from 1981-1986. Freidel was a noted biographer of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and published six volumes of his biography.