The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again by Robert D. Putnam with Shaylyn Romney Garrett From the publisher: “An eminent political scientist’s brilliant analysis of economic, social, and political trends over the past century demonstrating how we […]
John Marshall: The Chief Justice Who Saved the Nation by Harlow Giles Unger From the publisher: “A hero in America’s war against British tyranny, John Marshall with his heroics as Chief Justice turned the Supreme Court into a bulwark against presidential and congressional tyranny and saved […]
I’ve just added a book to my summer reading list: Supreme Inequality by Adam Cohen. The book examines how the Supreme Court has moved in a different direction in the 50 years since the Warren court. It should be a good read. Here is a […]
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David Blight From the publisher: “Extraordinary…a great American biography” (The New Yorker) of the most important African-American of the nineteenth century: Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading abolitionists […]
A Necessary Evil: A History of American Distrust of Government by Garry Wills From the publisher: “In A Necessary Evil, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Garry Wills shows that distrust of government is embedded deep in the American psyche. From the revolt of the colonies against king […]
Until the End of Time, by Brian Greene From the publisher: “From the world-renowned physicist and best-selling author of The Elegant Universe comes a captivating exploration of deep time and humanity’s search for purpose. “Until the End of Time is Brian Greene’s breathtaking new exploration of the cosmos […]
The Free Speech Century, edited by Lee C. Bollinger and Jeffrey R. Stone From the publisher: “The Supreme Court’s 1919 decision in Schenck vs. the United States is one of the most important free speech cases in American history. Written by Oliver Wendell Holmes, it […]
A World Without Work by Daniel Susskind Reviews from The New York Times and The Atlantic. From the publisher: “From an Oxford economist, a visionary account of how technology will transform the world of work, and what we should do about it. “From mechanical looms […]
Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made by Jim Newton From the publisher: “One of the most acclaimed and best political biographies of its time, Justice for All is a monumental work dedicated to a complicated and principled figure that will become a seminal work of twentieth-century […]
Good Economics for Hard Times by Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo From the publisher: “The winners of the Nobel Prize show how economics, when done right, can help us solve the thorniest social and political problems of our day. “Figuring out how to deal […]