Secret Lives of the Supreme Court What Your Teachers Never Told You about America's Legendary Judges

The year 2009 should bring extraordinary changes to the United States Supreme Court. Justice John Paul Stevens is expected to retire, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg may well follow suit. With a new president choosing their replacements, it's the perfect time for Secret Lives of the Supreme Court -an irreverent look at the lives, personalities, and history of this exclusive club, with profiles of everyone from John Jay and William Howard Taft to Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and John Roberts. Readers will learn about their most important cases and their most bizarre personality quirks: Thurgood Marshall was a soap opera junkie, Benjamin Cordozo died a virgin, Hugo Black was a Klansman, Sandra Day O'Connor started a Jazzercise class for fellow lawyers, and much more. Complete with 35 irreverent portraits, Secret Lives of the Supreme Court will be a hit with U.S. history buffs and anyone seeking a fuller understanding of current events.

Robert Schnakenberg is the author of several nonfiction books, including Secret Lives of Great Authors and Distory: A Treasury of Historical Insults. He lives in Brooklyn.