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A review by turophile
The Great Decision: Jefferson, Adams, Marshall, and the Battle for the Supreme Court by Cliff Sloan
3.0
Every law student reads Marbury v. Madison in constitutional law class, but rarely do most classes (or students) go in depth into the history surrounding the case. The author is not exaggerating when he makes the case that this decision had a profound impact on the development of the political institutions of this country.
Mr. Sloan does a good job of providing color and drama to enliven what could be a dull topic. Even lawyers familiar with the opinion may learn quite a bit.
Unfortunately for Mr. Sloan, I compare every non-fiction book on political or legal history to Robert Caro's Master of the Senate making it hard to get five stars out of me in this genre. Providing interesting facts and details can make "dry history" come alive, but the details should be relevant to the story. Mr. Sloan kept dropping details about seemingly minor characters or even advertisements in newspapers that did not seem relevant. For example, paragraphs throughout the book are devoted to medical advertisements for tapeworm remedies and other ailments and cures of the times. What on earth do these have to do with the main story? And many characters he drops into the story do not reappear and do not appear to affect the outcome.
The main problem for me with these extraneous details is that it felt like the author was puffing the story to make it novel length. Many details could have been dropped and this story would have been a tight well-written lengthy article or novella. Alternatively, the story could have been expanded into a biography of Marshall.
Despite my complaints, I do recommend this book highly for anyone and everyone who raises the charge that something is "unconstitutional."
Mr. Sloan does a good job of providing color and drama to enliven what could be a dull topic. Even lawyers familiar with the opinion may learn quite a bit.
Unfortunately for Mr. Sloan, I compare every non-fiction book on political or legal history to Robert Caro's Master of the Senate making it hard to get five stars out of me in this genre. Providing interesting facts and details can make "dry history" come alive, but the details should be relevant to the story. Mr. Sloan kept dropping details about seemingly minor characters or even advertisements in newspapers that did not seem relevant. For example, paragraphs throughout the book are devoted to medical advertisements for tapeworm remedies and other ailments and cures of the times. What on earth do these have to do with the main story? And many characters he drops into the story do not reappear and do not appear to affect the outcome.
The main problem for me with these extraneous details is that it felt like the author was puffing the story to make it novel length. Many details could have been dropped and this story would have been a tight well-written lengthy article or novella. Alternatively, the story could have been expanded into a biography of Marshall.
Despite my complaints, I do recommend this book highly for anyone and everyone who raises the charge that something is "unconstitutional."