Bribes: The Intellectual History of a Moral Idea

by John T. Noonan Jr.

Traces the history of bribery from ancient Egypt to ABSCAM, examines changing perceptions of bribery, and discusses the legal, ethical and religious injunctions against bribes

839 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

John Thomas Noonan, Jr. (1926-2017) was a Senior Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in San Francisco, California. He was appointed in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan.

Affiliations:
United States. Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
University of California, Berkeley. School of Law
University of Notre Dame. Law School

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

not a quick read, but worth it for many reasons: exposure to some great historical and literary works, which the author seems to be familiar with in their original languages: old testament, st. augustine, cicero, dante, piers plowman, samuel pepys, shakespeare. the book concerns a MORAL idea, but is completely free of MORALISING; many of the areas Noonan explores might be controversial if not for his studious neutrality concerning this and other moral issues; it provides a good blueprint for argumentation.

[Fred Eisenhut · Rating 4 out of 5]

his was very interesting, however I think it was written more for Lawyers than for the general public.