Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The Supreme Court in United States History - Winner, Non-Fiction, 1923

The Supreme Court in United States History
By: Charles Warren
Little, Brown, & Company, 1923


Wow. This book was every bit as exciting as one would imagine it to be. (Because I know sarcasm doesn't work so well in the written, or typed, word - that last sentence was entirely sarcastic.) The Supreme Court in United States History starts with the very beginning of the Supreme Court in 1781 and moves forward through every minor event in the history of that high court. While Warren did what he could to make this book readable for the layman, he didn't have much of a chance to make it fascinating.

Warren's book does provide a vast amount of factual information and would, therefore, be a great research tool. It gives so many details about the formation of the Supreme Court and how, over the years, they have toiled to work out the kinks so that justice is fully administered. This book was the first one where I noticed a reference back to one of the other Pulitzer books I've read (specifically Albert Beveridge's The Life of John Marshall). I must admit that I dreaded reading this book and while I did pick up a few facts that I will hopefully remember, I am quite relieved to be done and move on!

3 comments:

Grete said...

Good for you! I definitely wouldn't have picked this one up. :)

barb said...

i can't wait until you get to the book 1776. i've been wanting to read it, but i'm waiting for you to sum it up first:) you're funny.

AK said...

I can't wait to read 1776 either, but it could be several years till I get there (like 15) since I'm going in order from the beginning. But, I do occasionally skip ahead if I want to listen to a book on CD or something. Maybe I'll listen to it on our next long car ride. I'll definitely let you know how it goes...