A guide to the American legal system, told through the story of two actual court casesThe Steps to the Supreme Court takes a lively, narrative approach to the subject by following two real cases--one civil, one criminal--as they work their way through the system all the way up to the Supreme Court. Written by a member of the Supreme Court bar, this book brings the legal system to life in a practical, accessible, and compelling way.Covers the ...

A comprehensive history of the people and cases that have changed history, this is the definitive account of the nation's highest court featuring a forward by Howard ZinnRecent changes in the Supreme Court have placed the venerable institution at the forefront of current affairs, making this comprehensive and engaging work as timely as ever. In the tradition of Howard Zinn's classic A People's History of the United States, Peter Irons chronicles the decisi...

Peter Irons, acclaimed historian and author of A People History of the Supreme Court, explores of one of the supreme court's most important decisions and its disappointing aftermathIn 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court sounded the death knell for school segregation with its decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. So goes the conventional wisdom. Weaving together vivid portraits of lawyers and such judges as Thurgood Marshall and Earl Warren, sketches o...

A searing--and sobering--account of the legal and extra-legal means by which systemic white racism has kept Black Americans 'in their place' from slavery to police and vigilante killings of Black men and women, from 1619 to the present. From the arrival of the first English settlers in America until now-a span of four centuries-a minority of white men have created, managed, and perpetuated their control of every major institution, public and private, in American society. ...

An insightful and dramatic account of religious conflicts that keep America divided, from the acclaimed author of A People's History of the Supreme CourtAs the United States has become increasingly conservative, both politically and socially, in recent years, the fight between the religious right and those advocating for the separation of church and state has only intensified. As he did in A People's History of the Supreme Court, award-winning aut...

A searing—and sobering—account of the legal and extra-legal means by which systemic white racism has kept Black Americans ‘in their place’ from slavery to police and vigilante killings of Black men and women, from 1619 to the present.From the arrival of the first English settlers in America until now—a span of four centuries—a minority of white men have created, managed, and perpetuated their control of every major institution, public and private, in American socie...

A comprehensive history of the people and cases that have changed history, this is the definitive account of the nation's highest courtRecent changes in the Supreme Court have placed the venerable institution at the forefront of current affairs, making this comprehensive and engaging work as timely as ever. In the tradition of Howard Zinn's classic A People's History of the United States, Peter Irons chronicles the decisions that have influenced virtually ...

The life story of the most controversial, volatile, and misunderstood provision of the Bill of Rights and “a welcome re-injection of historical context into the present debate over the rightful role of guns in American culture” (Chicago Tribune).At a time of increasing gun violence in America, Waldman’s book provoked a wide range of discussion. This book looks at history to provide some surprising, illuminating answers.The Amendmen...

Thurgood Marshall was the first African American Supreme Court Justice. As a lawyer, he won the Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that integrated all public schools in the United States. But Marshall's contributions extend far beyond significantly advancing the civil rights movement in this nation.Thurgood Marshall: A Biography discusses the life of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in a chronological fashion, and then discusses his le...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the first woman to sit on the United States Supreme Court comes this fascinating book about the history and evolution of the highest court in the land.“[A] succinct, snappy account of how today’s court—so powerful, so controversial and so frequently dissected by the media—evolved from such startlingly humble and uncertain beginnings.”—The New York TimesOut of Order...

From renowned political theorist James MacGregor Burns, an incisive critique of the overreaching power of an ideological Supreme CourtFor decades, Pulitzer Prize-winner James MacGregor Burns has been one of the great masters of the study of power and leadership in America. In Packing the Court, he turns his eye to the U.S. Supreme Court, an institution that he believes has become more powerful, and more partisan, than the founding fathers ever intended. In...

A monumental investigation of the Supreme Court's rulings on race, From Jim Crow To Civil Rights spells out in compelling detail the political and social context within which the Supreme Court Justices operate and the consequences of their decisions for American race relations. In a highly provocative interpretation of the decision's connection to the civil rights movement, Klarman argues that Brown was more important for mobilizing southern white opposition to racial cha...