People's History of the Supreme Court : The Men and Women Whose Cases and Decisions Have Shaped Our Constitution

Recent 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 every aspect of our society, from the debates over judicial power to controversial rulings in the past regarding slavery, racial segregation, and abortion, as well as more current cases about school prayer, the Bush/Gore election results, and enemy combatants.” A comprehensive history of the people and cases that have changed history, this is the definitive account of the nation’s highest court. BACKCOVER: It is such good reading that we allow the author to lead us places in history that we might not have expected to travel. (The Boston Globe)

Peter Irons is a professor of political science at the University of California at San Diego. He is the author of several books, the first of which, The New Deal Lawyers, was voted the best work in American legal history by the Law and Society Association.