Legal Books

I used this book in law school and continue to use it in my employment law practice. It is an essential for any employment lawyer's library!

As a current student of Professor White's I may be a bit biased. Regardless of that, however, this book truly is excellent for the law student looking to grasp the employment and employment discrimination law fields, the practitioner looking to update his knowledge, or the layperson seeking to gain an understanding of two extremely important topics. There are tons of examples in every chapter to help you apply the concepts she teaches you as you read the book. It is very clearly written, and it simplifies and clarifies even the hardest of concepts.

Rebecca Hanner White provides a clear and concise overview of labor and employment law terms and concepts, ranging from traditional employment law principles to those developed under modern, federal statutory employment discrimination law. This handbook is appropriate and valuable for everybody - from legal practitioners to college and law students to individuals wishing to understand more about the legal framework for employment in the United States. Everybody should read and review it for both general understanding and as a starting point for more focused study. This book is a jewel of a find!

This book is fabulous and it is one of a kind. I found it helpful as a guardian often faced with ethical dilemmas about when I should decide and when "my ward" should. But the book is also written for doctors, policymakers, lawyers and judges, and parents -- in fact anyone interested in the assimilation of "the retarded" into the rest of the population.
It is actually fun reading and set up so you can skip the parts less relevant to you. It made me cry a couple of times as well as giving me many ideas -- and increasing my confidence in my judgments. READ IT. It will surely affect you profoundly in one way or another.

While this closely argued and exhaustively researched book focuses on the reproductive legal rights of our retarded adults, its real core is to ask: Why should retarded people be deprived of the same rights the rest of us enjoy simply because they are retarded.
The book punctures the veil of silence around our automatic presumptions about these people that underlies our assumptions of the necessity and goodness of paternalistic regulation.
It does this by honing in on the most emotionally arousing aspect of the question. Asking why our retarded fellow citizens can be prevented from having sex and from having children brings us up against our deepest prejudices.
The book caused me to reconfigure my opinions in these areas in what feels to me a more useful perspective of the lives of these people, some of whom are my patients. I think it is a must read for anyone involved in any aspect of the care of our retarded population.

This book puts forth a compelling thesis: The mentally retarded should have full rights to manage their own sexual and reproductive lives. The idea sounds good, but most people would quail at its full implications. Should a severely retarded 15-year-old be allowed to bear a child? What about situations where parents fear a daughter might suffer from rape in an institution? Should they have the right to have their daughter sterilized? A Harvard law professor, Field does not dodge the hard questions. She addresses them and forces a re-thinking of conventional ideas about who should make decisions for others and why. Field writes with such authority and conviction that at the end you are likely to be persuaded that human rights apply to the retarded in ways you never imagined. Analytical and systematic, the book is rooted in a deep knowledge of the law and a concern for the shaping of social policy. It is a must-read for those who face decisions about the retarded, either within their families or in the public arena. Those concerned with human rights will also find their minds, and perhaps their causes, expanded when they read this book.

Perry Mason Seven Famous Novels

These seven novels were originally published between 1955 and 1959 when Gardner was at his prime. They take place in 1950s Los Angeles California, an area where Erle Stanley Gardner lived and worked. Gardner never put dates in his novels to keep them from being dated. But after the devaluation of the dollar from 1971 on many of the dollar figures are long out of date. There were other changes in law and culture as well. Gardner was a trial attorney himself, and his experiences were not unlike that of Perry Mason. His novels economize on characterization, using dialogue to keep the story moving. Few of the people tell the whole truth to Mason. His job is to compare testimony to the facts gathered by his private investigator. Mason's clients are usually "middle class" or better; few clients have messy lives or cases. The stories involve some technical or scientific facts, and show some point of law.

Erle Stanley Gardner was the founder of the "Court of Last Resort" which sought to free many unjustly convicted persons. Gardner, among others, sought to use scientific means to find the guilty, rather than using hunches or guesses alone. Mason's clients are always not guilty, because few would buy a book where a defense lawyer let the guilty go free. An important lesson for the reader is to think about the facts, and not jump to a conclusion based on newspaper reports. These seven novels are often educational, like some novels of Dashiell Hammett, in teaching about the tricks of undercover detectives. You'll learn about a "roper", rough or smooth shadows, etc. and be able to identify the undercover operatives that you may encounter in your life.


* The Case of the Glamorous Ghost. A young woman was found in a park at night, nearly nude. She seems to be an amnesia victim. When her missing boyfriend is found dead she is accused of the murder.
* The Case of the Terrified Typist. A skilled typist shows up for work, then disappears. This typist matches a suspect in a burglary. Perry Mason's client is convicted of murder, but this is overturned on a technicality.
* The Case of the Lucky Loser. A young man is on trial for a hit-and-run. The investigation brings out hidden facts. Why did his step-mother and a company official testify against him?
* The Case of the Screaming Woman. A wife calls to have her husband's story checked. He had picked up a hitchhiker and taken her to a motel. After a nearby doctor was killed, the man is charged with murder.
* The Case of the Long-Legged Models. A young lady inherited shares in a Las Vegas casino. A man is pressuring her to sell out. When the man is murdered, the young lady is charged with murder.
* The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll. A woman runs away and assumes a new identity. But an investigator ties the new identity to a past crime. When the investigator is killed, she is accused of the murder.
* The Case of the Waylaid Wolf. A woman can't start her car, and is given a ride by her employer's son. She resists his advances, then runs off. When this man is found dead she is charged with murder.

Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) wrote some one hundred novels over the course of his long career. He was at the height of his powers during the late 1950s, and this collection offers seven of his best works featuring Los Angeles attorney Perry Mason. Writing in a dialogue-heavy, almost staccato style that calls to mind the likes of Hammett, Gardner leads the reader through complexities of the law with considerable skill--and if these tales are genre-fiction pure and simple, they are nonetheless enjoyable for that.

THE CASE OF THE GLAMOROUS GHOST (1955) finds Mason entangled with a young woman who claims memory loss, and her dead boyfriend is one of the the things she can't quite recall. In THE CASE OF THE TERRIFIED TYPIST (1956) Mason requires an office temp--who suddenly disappears from the job and may be implicated in both robbery and murder.

In THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LOSER (1957) Mason is asked to observe a trail by a mysterious client and finds himself more involved in the court case than he expected. THE CASE OF THE SCREAMING WOMAN finds Mason called upon to play marriage counselor when a skeptical woman demands that he get to the bottom of her husband's wild story.

THE CASE OF THE LONG-LEGGED MODELS (1957) finds Mason representing a casino heiress who is being strong armed to sell. In THE CASE OF THE FOOT-LOOSE DOLL (1958) a lovelorn woman claims to have committed insurance fraud, and in THE CASE OF THE WAYLAID WOLF (1959) an office worker's refusal of a young man's advances has unexpected consequences to say the least.

The novels include the supporting characters so much beloved--or loathed--by Gardner's fans: the witty and efficient secretary Della Street; the hard nosed detective Paul Drake; and, of course, such 'for the prosecution' figures as Police Lt. Trask and the urbane but none-to-swift attorney Hamilton Burger. Police processes and in some instances laws have changed in the half-century Gardner wrote these tales, but they are still good fun, fast and entertaining reads from the first page to the last. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

If you are a Perry Mason fan, buy this volume now or check it out from your library. This 821 page collection of novels from 1955-59 will keep you entertained with non-stop action. Note: The publisher used a font that is smaller in size than some aging eyes might prefer and the line spacing is a bit tight.

Erle Stanley Gardner published his first novel at age 44 and he still managed to author 82 novels featuring Perry Mason. Under the pseudonym of A. A. Fair, he wrote 24 novels featuring Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. These are delightfully light entertainment, and have more repartee between the main characters (undersized detective Donald Lam and his overweight boss, Bertha Cool) and a bit more descriptive text than was Gardner's style in the Mason novels. The irreverent Lam might remind some of Craig Rice's John J. Malone, but Gardner's plots are always better constructed than Rice's.

Gardner was a man of energy with an amazing work ethic who became the most read mystery writer in the world. At age 32, Gardner, a practicing attorney, began writing fiction for the pulps for a very minimal amount per word. His output was in the range of a one million words year - a stunning level by any measure. By the time he started writing the Perry Mason novels, he had the right systems and support staff to allow an incredible output.

Gardner dictated his prose, and that in part explains his preference for dialogue over description, action over analysis. Gardner's novels emphasize physical movement - running from one place to another, full-throttle car trips, chartered airplane flights.

Gardner's clients in these works are innocent, but usually do not reveal the full truth to Perry Mason. The highlight of each novel is in the courtroom, where Perry Mason with flamboyance and audacity not only proves his client innocent, but also reveals the identity of the real murderer. Mason's novels are plot driven, and the plots grab your attention - even though there is seldom an immediate danger to either the client or Mason. Plausibility and consistency in the plots are quite good. The crimes and their solutions hold up well to scrutiny.

Buy and read this volume if you enjoy classic American entertainment. Part of Gardner's incredible popularity was that he never added the extensive descriptions that most readers skip in detective novels. Gardner's novels have tight plots, snappy dialog and an abundance of action.

If your only exposure to Perry Mason was from the television show, you are in for much more rapid and exciting entertainment than you could possibly expect. Each of these novels is a quick and fun read. I also recommend that you explore some of the earlier writings of Gardner, where the testosterone and energy are even stronger. You might also enjoy the insightful biography of Gardner, The Case Of The Real Perry Mason, authored by mystery writer and critic Dorothy B. Hughes.

Excellent reading material. Must have for everyone in the business or starting. A++++

Not only was this book educational, it was entertaining. This book clearly explains what goes on behind the scenes in the world of pro wrestling. I'd recommend this book to any pro wrestling or wrestling fan. In short, a fantastic read!

Perkins' book on legal issues in professional wrestling is well written. The format makes it easy to ferret out specific information.

Useful book. Written in easy to read and understand language for those of us who do not enjoy wading through otherwise dull and dry text of legal and ethical codes. In each chapter the authors respond to questions posed with thoughtful and clear responses. A part II of this text would be great and I for one, would purchase it if it were in the same format.

This text clearly and concisely covers the most critical and challenging aspects of California mental health law. No legalese or unusual jargon, just common sense answers to your most frequently asked questions. I used this text to prepare for the CJPEE and I could not recommend it more highly. It's an interesting read and very helpful to the practicing therapist.

This book is a detailed guide to the Mental Health Law of California. It elaborates in lucid fashion the details of the law including the role and responsibilities of physicians for commitment of the mentally ill. It makes clear the situations where the physician can and cannot act.

It is a useful resource for physicians and mental health workers who care for patients IN CALIFORNIA.

Raphael Cohen-Almagor from the University of Haifa has investigated, studied and published on the issue of euthanasia over the past many years with a special interest in the policy and practice aspects of physician assisted suicide.
This book is a case study over several years of the experience and practice from the Netherlands, where physican assisted suicide has taken place for a long period with this Dutch experience often used by other countries in their ethical and legal search for a solution to this complex problem.
The book is divided into three parts: the background with research reports on the medical practice of euthanasia in the Netherlands from 1990, 1995 and 2001 and the interpretations, fieldwork by the author in the Netherlands in 1999, 2001 and 2002 and finally the conclusions.
The author has produced a well researched addition to this complex and controvertial issue of mercy killing on the basis of an in-depth study of the situation in the Netherlands. The author had published and supported the performance of euthanasia before his study in the Netherlands, but he visits changed his mind and views concerning the practicality and implementation of euthanasia. The shortcomings of the Dutch experience is presented in a clear language and in the conclusion the author provide a set of guidelines for physician assisted suicide to prevent abuse and misuse.
This book has relevance for physicians, nurses, public health professionals, lawyers, sociologists, policy makers and professionals dealing with ethics and the topic of euthanasia.

Professor Joav Merrick, MD
Director, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Medical director, Division for Mental Retardation, Box 1260, IL-91012 Jerusalem, Israel. E-mail: jmerrick@internet-zahav.net

Euthanasia in the Netherlands is an excellent book on an important topic. It succeeds in giving an even-handed appraisal of Dutch euthanasia practices, providing a better understanding and valuable insights of the Dutch experience with euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Cohen-Almagor analyses clearly and accurately the weaknesses of the policy and offers recommendations for correcting the deficiencies and developing a sounder policy. He combines an overview of the literature with analyses and interpretations of the intriguing interviews he conducted with key people in the Netherlands.

Cohen-Almagor's book is critical but judicious. He gives a balanced account of the views with which he disagrees and he carefully explains the basis for his disagreement. His style of writing is straightforward, clear, easy to follow, logical, and coherent. Bioethicists and other scholars in medicine, public health, and law will be interested in this book. College teachers of medical ethics will also find it valuable, and educated general readers with a special interest in euthanasia will find it helpful.

Writing a book on the Dutch experience with euthanasia is not an easy matter. Several reasons can explain the difficulty. First of all the ethics of the present palliative and terminal care has not been spelled out in detail until recent years. The difficulties every physician meets more than once in his career when confronted with a sincere wish of the patient to die in a humane way in a situation of unbearable suffering, are still puzzling for moral and legal thinking. Secondly, our ways of legal and public thinking are still not adapted to the situation in which death is a part of life, not so much as a natural fact but as a process that can be controlled. The goals of medicine to uphold human dignity and to alleviate suffering are at stake in this process. The Dutch policy to aim at a system of both legal clarity and control is perhaps at this moment the most articulated answer to the difficulties, but will almost certainly not be the last word in the issues of death and dying.

Rafi Cohen-Almagor has contributed much to the ongoing discussions by interviewing all the prominent legal, moral, political and medical people involved in the development of the Dutch legal ruling. His analysis of the interviews is based on clear, lucid thinking and argument. Unlike some others he tries to stay with the facts without entangling them with moral or political prejudice. Instead he tries to develop a view according to best standards of academic thinking. In the end he gives his own conclusion based on his experiences. One does not need to subscribe them in order to appreciate the work Prof. Cohen-Almagor has done. This book will certainly be helpful in every discussion on the legal and moral principles of assistance in dying, in traditions of legal philosophy such as the schools of Dworkin, Rawls and Kelsen. It can help physicians, nurses and others engaged in palliative care to sharpen their views in the ethics of palliative care as well in the forms of public and legal control that are needed in the burdensome but rewarding work of assistance in dying.

continues to integrate and expand upon what is currently at issue in the new field of forensic psychology. next time I teach forensic psych on the undergraduate level, will use much of this text

This book is extremely thorough yet easy to use. It came highly recommended by two very respected (well published, board certified, etc)professors I worked under as part of my clincal internship. My primary duites are not as a forensic psychologist; however, I have found in the couse of my work for an Outpatient Community Mental Health center that one can never really avoid forensic / competency issues and related evaluations. I have referred to this text often in the year since I purchased it; this book has proved invaluable. Forensic issues are increasingly prevalent in todays clinical practice; even if you are not primarily interested in forensic psychology, chances are you have or will be asked to assess competency at some point; while clinically oriented professors often offer some guidance on this matter, they often lack the epxerience / expertise to thoroughly train their students on the legal aspects of such determinations. This book provides the most relevant and accurate needed to ensure prudent and high quality. My only regret is that I did not purchase this book sooner.

Rob Metzger, Psy.D.

"The first edition of this book was a classic, widely cited both for its analysis of forensic assessment instruments and for Grisso's integrative theory of forensic evaluation. With the second edition, Evaluating Competencies remains a classic. I expect that whenever a forensic psychologist of psychiatrist prepares for an advanced examination in this specialty, this book will-or should-be one of the first books reviewed."
Philip H. Witt, Ph.D.
Clinical Associate
Dept. of Psychiatry

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Myers provides an excellent resource for practioners in the area of child abuse. Also includes citations to court cases addressing evidentiary issues.=

Staying current with the latest changes in this sensitive area of the law is quite a challenge. With this exhaustive resource in your library, your worries are over. This comprehensive book clearly sets forth the latest case law on the complex evidentiary and constitutional issues faced by an attorney prosecuting or defending child abuse and neglect proceedings. You'll get relevant information on stages of child development and how they apply to this type of litigation. A compilation of appellate case law on child abuse and neglect law and psychological issues is also included. Integrating the wisdom of the psychological, medical, and legal disciplines, this work guides you through all of the investigative and litigation issues. Also included are forms and checklists to assist in discovery

Actually, it's two books, Volume I and Volume II. But Professor John Myers' book EVIDENCE IN CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT CASES is the single most complete, current, and balanced resource there is for information on this very important topic. John Myers' work has been cited by over 150 courts nationwide, and with good reason. I have been working in the field of child abuse and neglect for many years and have used this book extensively. It's not a book that every lawyer or judge needs to have individually, although that would be great, but it is a book that every law office and court (criminal, juvenile, family) should have in its library. It gives citations to cases throughout the U.S., as well as to statutes. It reviews the literature and trends in this very area. And, of course, it gives the insights and assessments of Professor Myers on MANY areas of evidence that affect child abuse and neglect cases. This book is simply an invaluable resource for lawyers and judges working in the child abuse and neglect field, whether they be prosecutors, defense attorneys, children's attorneys, or judicial officers.

There are no punches pulled here. David Dow doesn't shy away from describing his representation of the truly guilty or their crimes. But what will take your breath away are his descriptions of the brutally honest conversations that post-conviction counsel must have with their death row clients. It's not about asking "Did you do it" but advising the condemned that no matter how good the case or the lawyer, the death sentence probably will be carried out. Perhaps only oncologists for Stage 4 cancer patients know how it feels to be so brutally honest.

Books on legal topics have a deserved reputation for being dense, dry, and mired in technical language. Dow avoids these traps with clear, compelling writing and delivers a work that is accessible to lay people and lawyers alike.

For lawyers, the book is attractive for its well-argued and well-supported themes. The footnotes are worth the price of entry alone.

For the lay reader, Dow develops his themes by focusing on the cases of some of the many death row inmates he has represented over the years. Along the way, he describes his personal journey from death penalty supporter to abolitionist.

This is a worthwhile work for anyone concerned about our criminal justice system and the myriad ways in which the "machinery of justice" and the "machinery of death" do not mesh.

The author, David Dow, is a law professor at the University of Houston who has practiced as a lawyer representing death row inmates in Texas for over fifteen years. His book is unusual for several reasons. First, Dow is writing as an insider - an experienced death row attorney. Second, the book is not intended to elicit `amens' from like-minded activists: Dow once supported the death penalty himself, does not dismiss that view out of hand, does not indulge the sentimental fantasy that most death row inmates are innocent, and does not downplay the seriousness of the crimes the guilty ones have committed. Finally, Dow is one of those rare lawyers who can actually write. His prose is clear and unsentimental, but also colorful and peppered with strong judgments backed by proof.

Using careful argumentation, Dow makes three main points. First, questions of innocence, while important, should not drive the debate on the death penalty. To Dow, the condemnation of innocent people, or people who are guilty but did not receive fair trials, is merely a symptom of a disease. That disease - a set of systemic problems with the capital punishment system - should be the real focus of study and reform. Second, the "endless appeals" that most people think ensure careful review often do nothing of the sort. Dow chronicles case after case in which courts and lawyers argue over the Byzantine technical rules to the defendant's appeal, only to have the courts eventually decide that they are legally barred from even hearing evidence as to whether the inmate's trial was fair.

Finally, Dow argues that legions of judges, under the intense political and emotional pressure of death penalty cases, have given up on the rule of law. You may rub your eyes in disbelief at the federal appeals court which denied an appeal before it had even been filed, or the state court who kept a defense lawyer on the case even after he took a job with the district attorney, but these episodes really happened, and are only two of many Dow documents. Dow calls these incidents acts of judicial lawlessness, and concludes: "Murder is undoubtedly among the ugliest of crimes, but it is beyond ironic when our response to horrific crimes is to embrace the lawless tactics of the vigilante."

The most gripping parts of the book, however, are surely the vivid stories of the many inmates and other people Dow met in his years of work, and his harrowing and emotional visits with inmates on death row. Stories like that of Cesar Fierro, driven insane by the 26 years he has spent on death row in procedural limbo, even though the state's evidence against him fell apart long ago and prosecutor who sent him to death row now admits there's no longer a case against him. Or of Johnny Joe Martinez, whose tearful and intense four-hour meeting with the woman whose son he murdered led her to write the parole board urging them to commute Martinez's sentence to life in prison. (He was executed after losing by a vote of 9-8). These wrenching, sometimes even oddly amusing stories leaven the necessary legal discussions, and shine a merciless spotlight on the human cost of executions to all those involved - not just the offender.

"Executed on a Technicality" sheds light on a part of the criminal justice system off-limits to all but a few, and offers a genuinely new approach to a topic one might have thought had been explored from every possible angle.

A woman recently died in our state prison. She had killed a half dozen people before she was caught and sentenced to life. She went to jail a dozen or more years ago. At the time there was a lot of comment that she should have gotten the death penalty. In fact, even after her death there were peole who said that she should have been put to death. I asked some of them why. She was locked up, she didn't hurt any more people, society was just as safe as if she had been killed, but we didn't kill her. They didn't have a good answer beyond "we just should have."

The United States is right up there with all the other progressive countries that allow the death penalty: North Korea, Iran, Iraq, China, Vietnam, most of Africa and the middle East. Notably missing from this list include England, Germany, France, Finland, most of the civilized countries.

I don't know why, but I guess that I had hoped that with an issue so important that our Government, our legal system would be very careful and lean over backwards to execute only the worst of the worst. Why do we allow people to be executed because a piece of paper was filed a day late? Why do we execute people when there is any chance at all that they might not be guilty? Why do ask the state to make our society a little more violent than it already is.

This is a sad book that makes compelling reading.

David Kyvig has revealed a fascinating aspect of our Constitutional history by focusing on the history of how we can and have changed that document.
The early part of this book tells the history of constitutionalism in colonial America. Kyvig tells us the story of the Constitutional Convention focusing on the development of Article V throughout the Convention. A major problem that developed under the Articles of Confederation was the requirement that any changes made to the Articles be unanimous. This made any one state (no matter how small its population) capable of killing any amendments no matter how important those amendments were to the bulk of the country.
Kyvig makes the observation that Amendment V with its less stringent requirements for adopting change was a major factor in winning the ratification debates in Massachusetts, New York and Virginia (p. 75). Anti-Federalists did not have to accept the idea that this was the best constitution that could be had. They could accept it as a good initial document but one that could be improved immediately by the addition of a Bill of Rights. All of the conventions ratified unconditionally (remember that a conditional ratification proposal was voted down in New York) but many conventions suggested a list of amendments to placate the local Anti-Federalists.
Kyvig makes some observations about Article V's requirements that speak to the original understandings of federalism.
Once a proposed amendment is sent to the states, it has to be ratified by ¾ of the current states (so the current requirement is 38 states) in order to be adopted. This is the largest supermajority specified in the Constitution. The Founders felt that disapproval by only 25% of the states should be enough to prevent fundamental changes in the structure of our government.
Kyvig also points out that there are ways around this stringent requirement. Congress can specify that the means of state ratification has to be by convention and not by the legislatures. Thus the national government can increase the chances for ratification by working around the state legislatures.
Similarly, the states can force the Congress to submit an amendment to the states by having two thirds of the states request a constitutional convention to consider an amendment. This threat has been used to spur Congress into action on the 17th Amendment (direct election of senators) and more recently on proposed balanced budget amendments (pp.471-2). This type of constitutional convention is one of the great unknowns of our Constitution. For example, if 25 states call for a convention to consider an abortion amendment and another 13 call for a convention to consider a balanced budget amendment does Congress have to call the convention? The answer is unknown or, at least, not agreed upon. Similarly, could the convention consider more than the amendments it was called to consider? The 1787 Convention provides a precedent for the answer that once a convention is called, it is capable of proposing changes to the entire Constitution. This too is an ongoing debate in legal journals. Yikes!
In other words, Kyvig feels that the original understandings of federalism show a balanced respect for the states, the national government and for the people as opposed to either. Article V was designed so that any two of the three could work around the other but only on conditions of the supermajority requirements.
Kyvig's book is exceptional when it comes to the political histories of the various amendments and how various players in these histories were able to play parts of Article V against other political players.
His discussions of the Reconstruction amendments, the suffrage amendment, the Prohibition amendment and its repeal amendment are brilliant. He is very balanced about how the Reconstruction amendments were shoved down the throats of the Southern states and how those same states basically made that a necessity by their immediate post-Civil War behavior. The consequences of this constitutional revolution were played out at least until the 1960s and probably are still being played out.
The one weakness that Kyvig's narrative has for me comes up in his discussion of amendment history from the FDR presidency on. Kyvig is a modern liberal who believes that the national government has a duty to provide basic social services to its citizens (And just for clarity sakes, so do I). Kyvig believes that FDR made a fatal mistake in not trying to push through amendments that would make his ideas about government programs constitutional. Instead, FDR choose to place political pressures on the court. As a result, FDR won the battle but may have lost the long-term war (Kyvig discusses these points in his Chapters 13 and 19).
I have no problem with Kyvig's point of view of these issues. However, I do find myself being critical of him when he is writing of recent conservative attempts to win a balance budget amendment or one to protect the flag from being desecrated in protests.
He is dismissive of arguments that were advanced in support of these proposed amendments (see p. 437) and he is dismissive of the motives of the politicians involved as playing to their base. I agree with his opinion of the economic arguments as the balanced budget idea although I would have liked to see the counter arguments outlined better. I totally disagree with the motive attribution junk. One of the disgusting components of political discourse these days is how much of it involves assessing the psychological health of the other. Conservatives are opportunists; liberals have a mental disorder, blah, blah, blah. If you don't know what I am talking about read the one-star reviews for any book of contemporary political commentary.
This is a relatively minor complaint. Kyvig is an engaging, learned and thoughtful guide to the first 180 years or so of our amendment history. For the last thirty years or so, he is more tendentious but he still has a lot to teach us. I have learned a lot from reading him. I suspect that you will as well.

David Kyvig's book "Explicit and Authentics Acts" covers the formal attempts to change the U.S. Constitution. It is packed with information from every era from the Articles of Confederation to the 1990's. Kyvig demonstrates how a national consensus must emerge before Constitutional change can become a reality and that changes which are not codified in the Constitution are rarely lasting. This is a work of stunning research and erudition. Although there are no deep or brilliant insights to be found here, the depth and scope and the judicious nature of the scholarship make this a must read for anyone who considers himself to be well informed on Constitutional history.

This great book and Great Expectations: The U.S. 1945-1974, by James T. Patterson, were the co-winners of the 1997 Bancroft History Prize. I found everything in this book good reading and I learned a lot I did not know about the 27 amendments to the US Constitution. Congress has proposed 33 amendmants to the Constitution, and 27 have been accepted by the requisite number of states and so were added to the Constitution. The research done to write this book is awesome. I found this book a much better book than the co-winner of the Bancroft Prize merely because this book told me so much more than I knew before I read it.