Original Meanings
Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution

It is infuriating to me that historians hide their brilliant interpretations of a concept so pertinent to today's political discussion behind incoherent writing styles. This book is at times hopelessly dense, frustrating the everyday interest in early American history. I assume that the Pulitzer is......more

This is a deeply and meticulously researched book, by one of the leading Constitutional scholars/historians Jack Rakove (as distinct from constitutional law; he is not a lawyer). The scholarship is superb and it is as indispensable for politics and law as it is profound historically. The book is comp......more

This exhaustively researched and beautifully written account of the politics and ideas behind the making of the U.S. Constitution is a model of history at its very best. Through close and scrupulously fair attention to the arguments of both those who drafted the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787......more

This is a fascinating book, but let me start with a caveat: this should not be your first or even second book on the Constitution. It is dense with a capital D. I found myself getting lost and even a teeny bit bored at times, as this book goes deep on issues like ratification, federalism, and repres......more

Rakove's Pulitzer Prize winning work on understanding the intent of the original framers of the Constitution is a timely work, especially given recent Supreme Court nomination battles. Perhaps Rakove's views can best be summarized by the following two quotes, the first attributed to Madison, "When t......more