100 Best Constitutional Law Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

Mark Manson

5.0

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062457738

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "Fk positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is fked and w

Recommended by Ryan Holiday, Alex Blackwell, Aunty Ada, and 21 others.

Ryan Holiday

Author

I loved Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck. There’s a reason this book is blowing up. It’s that good. [source]

Alex Blackwell

@whitbywonder Great book [source]

Aunty Ada

Finally done! Amazing book, I recommend😊 https://t.co/IDTawuWn8f [source]

2

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

David Grann

4.9

Preview Summary

In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.

Then, one by one, they began to be killed off. One Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, watched as her family was murdered. Her older sister was shot.

Recommended by Jacqueline Novogratz.

Jacqueline Novogratz

Reads like a novel while giving a deeper understanding of both the good and the terrible that humans are capable of. [source]

3

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Bryan Stevenson

4.8

Preview Summary

A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children tr

Recommended by Richard Branson, Chris Sacca, Howard Schultz, and 4 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Chris Sacca

Proud that @crystale and I could help fund the making of a film about one of our heroes, Bryan Stevenson. If you’ve read the book, then you know how powerful this film is. #JustMercy https://t.co/vNfXK4Imwr [source]

Howard Schultz

CEO/Starbucks

Perhaps one of the most powerful and important stories of our time. [source]

4

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee, Sissy Spacek, et al

4.8

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mocki

Recommended by Adam Lawrence, Antonio Villaraigosa, Clive Stafford Smith, and 6 others.

Adam Lawrence

It's just the best. [source]

Antonio Villaraigosa

Even though I know we’ve made great strides in America, and have come from the reality of Maycomb, we still suffer today from the lingering effects of the bigotry of that era. At the same time, it’s a lesson in standing tall in the face of tremendously hostile circumstances. [source]

Clive Stafford Smith

The book touches on so many issues and deals with so many prejudices – prejudices towards the mentally ill, racial stuff. It’s a book that was way ahead of its time in many ways. It’s also a wonderfully written book – a joy to read. [source]

5

The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

Melinda Gates

4.7

A debut from Forbes' third most powerful woman in the world, Melinda Gates, a timely and necessary call to action for women's empowerment.

For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission. Her goal, as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become incr

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, and 6 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

In her book, Melinda tells the stories of the inspiring people she’s met through her work all over the world, digs into the data, and powerfully illustrates issues that need our attention―from child marriage to gender inequity in the workplace. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

I would say this even if I weren’t married to the author: The Moment of Lift is a terrific read. Melinda opens up about her personal journey from private citizen to public advocate. You see how she pushed our foundation to focus more on women’s empowerment. She shares insights about our marriage, the path we took to become equals in our work, and how she has helped me grow as a father and husband. But to me, what is really impressive about the book is the way Melinda combines her mastery of data with her ability to tell powerful stories about individual women she has met. In an especially memorable passage about how she handles seeing people in desperate circumstances, she writes: “All of us have to let our hearts break; it’s the price of being present to someone who is suffering.” Your heart will break more than once when you read this book. But more often, you will be enlightened and inspired. [source]

Reid Hoffman

CEO/LinkedIn

In her instructive and inspiring book #TheMomentOfLift, @melindagates explains why effective "delivery systems" are key to achieving massive impact, and what the secret is to creating them. https://t.co/UBOXhZxFp8 https://t.co/eHeNHurocx [source]

6

The Federalist Papers

Alexander Hamilton

4.6

Preview Summary

Hailed by Thomas Jefferson as “the best commentary on the principles of government which was ever written", The Federalist Papers is a collection of eighty-five essays published by Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay from 1787 to 1788, as a means to persuade the public to ratify the Constitution of the United States.

With nearly two-thirds of the essays written by Hamil

Recommended by Barack Obama and Karl Rove.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

According to the president’s Facebook page and a 2008 interview with the New York Times, these titles are among his most influential forever favorites: Moby Dick, Herman Melville Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson Song Of Solomon, Toni Morrison Parting The Waters, Taylor Branch Gilead, Marylinne Robinson Best and the Brightest, David Halberstam The Federalist, Alexander Hamilton Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene The Quiet American, Graham Greene Cancer Ward, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Gandhi’s autobiography Working, Studs Terkel Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith All the King’s Men, Robert Penn Warren [source]

Karl Rove

I think this is the greatest explanation, in one place, of the American constitution, of the essential underpinnings and structures that make American democracy possible. This is how to view the constitution in its proper perspective, as a document of limited government, and enormous personal freedom – as an attempt to understand human nature and draw on both its strengths and its weaknesses to achieve a community and nation. [source]

7

The Constitution of the United States of America

Founding Fathers

4.6

The landmark legal document of the United States, the U.S. Constitution comprises the primary law of the Federal Government. Signed by the members of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, the Constitution outlines the powers and responsibilities of the three chief branches of the Federal Government, as well as the basic rights of the citizens of the United States. Th

8

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn

4.6

From two of our most fiercely moral voices, a passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.

With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold

Recommended by Emma Watson, Julia Enthoven, Mia Farrow, and 2 others.

Julia Enthoven

As for non-fiction, Half the Sky (about crimes against women, especially in the developing world) and Whatever it Takes (about the Harlem Children’s Zone and the work of Geoffrey Canada) both changed my world-view enormously, and I thought they were both super compelling. [source]

Mia Farrow

Women in so much of the world are doing so much of the labour without having any of the rights or reaping their share of the profits. [source]

Pierre Ferrari

One of the most powerful books I've ever read on #GenderEquality is Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by @NickKristof & @WuDunn: https://t.co/uj5rfxlmZm. Let's do more to support women in our daily lives! #WomenWednesday #SDGs [source]

9

Bill of Rights

James Madison

4.5

Printed in two colors, this leatherette edition is a guide to the first ten amendments of the U.S.

10

An Introduction to Constitutional Law: 100 Supreme Court Cases Everyone Should Know

Randy E. Barnett and Josh Blackman

4.5

This multimedia platform combines a book and video series that will change the way you study constitutional law. An Introduction to Constitutional Law teaches the narrative of constitutional law as it has developed over the past two centuries. All students--even those unfamiliar with American history--will learn the essential background information to grasp how this body of law has come to be wh

Cover unavailable

11

Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court

Mollie Hemingway, Carrie Severino

4.5

Justice Anthony Kennedy slipped out of the Supreme Court building on June 27, 2018, and traveled incognito to the White House to inform President Donald Trump that he was retiring, setting in motion a political process that his successor, Brett Kavanaugh, would denounce three months later as a “national disgrace” and a “circus.”

Justice on Trial, the definitive insider’s account of Kavanaugh’s appo

Recommended by Donald J. Trump, Grover Norquist, Neal Houston, and 2 others.

Donald J. Trump

USA President

Book is doing really well. A study in unfairness to a potentially great Justice! https://t.co/i6GwghuEsU [source]

Grover Norquist

@waynegaddy @MZHemingway Lacked a phone number. She has a great book out. [source]

Neal Houston

Apparently, Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, deleted her social media profile weeks before she sent a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein detailing the allegation, according to a new book... HOW INTERESTING 🤔 [source]

12

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

Jeffrey Toobin

4.4

In The Nine, acclaimed journalist Jeffrey Toobin takes us into the chambers of the most important—and secret—legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, revealing the complex dynamic among the nine people who decide the law of the land. An institution at a moment of transition, the Court now stands at a crucial point, with major changes in store on such issues as abortion, civil rights, and chur

Recommended by Gary Vaynerchuk.

Gary Vaynerchuk

Chairman/VaynerX

My favorite book I've ever read is this book. It was about the supreme court. [source]

13

Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces

Radley Balko

4.4

The last days of colonialism taught America’s revolutionaries that soldiers in the streets bring conflict and tyranny. As a result, our country has generally worked to keep the military out of law enforcement. But according to investigative reporter Radley Balko, over the last several decades, America’s cops have increasingly come to resemble ground troops. The consequences have been dire: the hom

14

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide

Carol Anderson

4.3

National Book Critics Circle Award Winner
New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year
A Boston Globe Best Book of 2016
A Chicago Review of Books Best Nonfiction Book of 2016

From the Civil War to our combustible present, White Rage reframes our continuing conversation about race, chronicling the powerful forces opposed to blac

15

The Fire Next Time

James Baldwin

4.3

A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin’s early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document. It consists of two “letters,” written on

Recommended by Barack Obama.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

Fact or fiction, the president knows that reading keeps the mind sharp. He also delved into these non-fiction reads: Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Evan Osnos Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman Moral Man And Immoral Society, Reinhold Niebuhr A Kind And Just Parent, William Ayers The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria Lessons in Disaster, Gordon Goldstein Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American, Richard S Tedlow Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, Katherine Boo [source]

16

King Leopold's Ghost

Adam Hochschil

4.3

In the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. Carrying out a genocidal plundering of the Congo, he looted its rubber, brutalized its people, and ultimately slashed its population by ten million--all the while shrewdly cultivating his reputation as a great humanitarian.

Recommended by Steve Crawshaw and Suzannah Lipscomb.

Steve Crawshaw

Large parts of the Belgian establishment loathe this book. It tells, as its sub-title says, ‘a story of greed, terror and heroism’. It lays bare the absolute fiction that King Leopold’s fief in the Congo was based on some philanthropic urge – a line that Leopold managed to peddle with extraordinary success at the time. I don’t know if what Leopold did would be called ‘genocide’ today or not. But millions died under his rule, often in horrific circumstances, invisible to the rest of the world. Modern communications didn’t exist. [source]

Suzannah Lipscomb

This is an incredibly powerful, horrifying, and utterly brilliant study of Belgian colonialism of the Congo and the brutality and genocide that followed in its wake. [source]

17

The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

Samantha Power

4.3

A NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019 • AN NPR BEST BOOK OF 2019 • ONE OF TIME’S MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2019 • AN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019 • A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF 2019

“Her highly personal and reflective memoir . . . is a must-read for anyone who cares about our role in a changing world.

Recommended by Hamdi Ulukaya, Mia Farrow, Piper Perabo, and 1 others.

Hamdi Ulukaya

.@SamanthaJPower rare moment when I’ve put your book down !! always learning from your integrity, brilliance, leadership & unwavering focus on human dignity. this is one book everyone must get.. https://t.co/5EzdiOUDRl [source]

Mia Farrow

Obama thinks we should read this book & I wholeheartedly agree. Buy it, read it, share it with those you care about - it is an inspiring, riveting read. https://t.co/Hc6ekQ04M4 [source]

Piper Perabo

Reading @SamanthaJPower amazing new book, The Education of An Idealist, and learning all kinds of inspiring things: @CarnegieEndow you are one of those inspiring things. Get inspired. Know your rights. And find ways to stand up and defend those rights, so we don’t loose them. https://t.co/dggmPWm5qB [source]

18

Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September 1787

Catherine Drinker Bowen

4.3

A classic history of the Federal Convention at Philadelphia in 1787, the stormy, dramatic session that produced the most enduring of political documents: the Constitution of the United States.
From Catherine Drinker Bowen, noted American biographer and National Book Award winner, comes the canonical account of the Constitutional Convention recommended as "required reading for every American." Looke

19

A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea

Masaji Ishikawa

4.3

The harrowing true story of one man’s life in—and subsequent escape from—North Korea, one of the world’s most brutal totalitarian regimes.

Half-Korean, half-Japanese, Masaji Ishikawa has spent his whole life feeling like a man without a country. This feeling only deepened when his family moved from Japan to North Korea when Ishikawa was just thirteen years old, and unwittingly became members of the

20

Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies (Aspen Treatise Series)

Erwin Chemerinsky

4.3

This highly successful student treatise offers distinct advantages:
- thorough treatment of all areas of constitutional law covered in both beginning and advanced courses
- direct, unambiguous identification of the issues
- takes a neutral approach that examines all sides of constitutional law debates
- presents both the doctrines and the underlying policy issues of the law, unlike many other texts w

21

America's Constitution: A Biography

Akhil Reed Amar

4.3

In America’s Constitution, one of this era’s most accomplished constitutional law scholars, Akhil Reed Amar, gives the first comprehensive account of one of the world’s great political texts. Incisive, entertaining, and occasionally controversial, this “biography” of America’s framing document explains not only what the Constitution says but also why the Constitution says it.

We all know this much

22

The Heritage Guide to the Constitution

Edwin Meese, Matthew Spalding, David F. Forte

4.3

This guide is the first of its kind, and presents the U.S. Constitution as never before, including a clause-by-clause analysis of the document, each amendment and relevant court case, and the documents that serve as the foundation of the Constitution.

Cover unavailable

23

The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Volume 1

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

4.3

Preview Summary

Volume 1 of the gripping epic masterpiece, Solzhenitsyn's chilling report of his arrest and interrogation, which exposed to the world the vast bureaucracy of secret police that haunted Soviet society

24

American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant

Ronald C. White

4.3

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - From the author of A. Lincoln, a major new biography of one of America's greatest generals--and most misunderstood presidents

Finalist for the Gilder-Lehrman Military History Book Prize

In his time, Ulysses S. Grant was routinely grouped with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in the "Trinity of Great American Leaders." But the battlefield commander-turned-commander-i

25

The Law

Frederic Bastiat and Tony Darnell

4.3

How is it that the law enforcer itself does not have to keep the law? How is it that the law permits the state to lawfully engage in actions which, if undertaken by individuals, would land them in jail? These are among the most intriguing issues in political and economic philosophy. More specifically, the problem of law that itself violates law is an insurmountable conundrum of all statist philoso

26

Not a Box

Antoinette Portis

4.2

A box is just a box . . . unless it's not a box. From mountain to rocket ship, a small rabbit shows that a box will go as far as the imagination allows.

Inspired by a memory of sitting in a box on her driveway with her sister, Antoinette Portis captures the thrill when pretend feels so real that it actually becomes real—when the imagination takes over and inside a cardboard box, a child is transpor

Cover unavailable

27

I Have a Dream / Letter from Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King Jr Jr.

4.2

In 'Letter from Birmingham Jail,' Martin Luther King Jr. explains why blacks can no longer be victims of inequality. Also features King's "I Have a Dream" speech, which was delivered to 250,000 civil rights marchers

28

Democracy and Distrust: A Theory of Judicial Review

John Hart Ely

4.2

This powerfully argued appraisal of judicial review may change the face of American law. Written for layman and scholar alike, the book addresses one of the most important issues facing Americans today: within what guidelines shall the Supreme Court apply the strictures of the Constitution to the complexities of modern life?

Until now legal experts have proposed two basic approaches to the Constitu

Recommended by Chibli Mallat.

Chibli Mallat

Of the immense legal literature on US democracy and the role of the American Supreme Court, this is the one book that has most profoundly affected my understanding of the rule of law, and of the role of the judges in compensating for the failures of democracy. Since reading this I have remained under the spell of the unique quality of constitutional writing in America, especially by my colleagues at Yale like Owen Fiss, Paul Kahn, Jed Rubenfeld, and Bruce Ackerman. I put them in the ‘maverick’ category because they cast a unique light on an otherwise opaque system of government in the US. The system holds up less because of elections and political parties than thanks to the discourse in and around the US Supreme Court. [source]

29

"A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide

Samantha Power

4.2

Former UN Ambassador Samantha Power's Pulitzer Prize-winning analysis of America's repeated failure to stop genocides around the world

In her Pulitzer Prize-winning examination of the last century of American history, Samantha Power asks the haunting question: Why do American leaders who vow "never again" repeatedly fail to stop genocide? Power, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and the for

Recommended by Norman Naimark, Peter W. Galbraith, and Steve Crawshaw.

Norman Naimark

This was an extremely important and timely book in calling attention to the deep-seated hypocrisy that lay at the heart of American policies when facing genocide over the past century. Power’s criticism of the devastating combination of American timidity and wishful thinking in face of mass killing, especially in the mid-1990s in Bosnia and Rwanda, is palpable throughout the book. Through historical and political analysis, she sought to mobilise American citizens to place pressure on the US government to act. I think she made a genuine contribution to the heightened awareness of genocide in the US, and to the emergence of an array of NGOs that pay close attention to genocide issues. [source]

Peter W. Galbraith

Samantha Power first came to the public notice for her work on the American response to genocide in Bosnia, or to be more precise, the lack thereof. The title, A Problem From Hell is a quote from Secretary of State Warren Christopher’s congressional testimony about the situation in Bosnia, explaining why the United States couldn’t do anything to stop the genocide there. She was a young reporter during the Bosnia war, but she looks not just at that genocide but at earlier genocides. These include the Ottoman genocide against the Armenians in the First World War and Saddam’s genocide against the Kurds. [source]

Steve Crawshaw

When Power was writing, the Rwandan genocide had already happened, but Darfur was still to come. The sub-title of her book is ‘America and the age of genocide’, and she started work expecting to investigate how American foreign policy had coped so badly. Terrible events, including the mass killing of Armenians in Turkey early in the 20th century, and Pol Pot’s mass killings in Cambodia 60 years later, had gone completely unconfronted by the American and other governments. Then came the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Western governments turned away again. The UN Security Council only finally acknowledged it as genocide when the killing was basically all over – after what Power calls ‘a two-month dance to avoid the g-word’. Power found herself forced to the conclusion that American foreign policy hadn’t failed on all of these occasions. It had done exactly what it meant to do – which was to keep America’s hands out of the very worst stuff. [source]

30

The Supreme Court Of The United States (The Oxford Guide To)

Kermit L. Hall

4.2

This second edition contains more than 1200 articles in all aspects of the Court's history, personnel and operations, including important cases, issues, minutiae and inner workings.

31

Brandishing the First Amendment

Tamara Piety

4.2

Over the past two decades, corporations and other commercial entities have used strategic litigation to win more expansive First Amendment protections for commercial speech-from the regulation of advertising to the role corporate interests play in the political process, most recently debated in the Supreme Court case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Tamara R. Piety, a nationally

32

The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence: A Pocket Constitution

The Founding Fathers

4.2

33

Our Last Hope: Rediscovering the lost path to liberty

Michael Maharre

4.2

34

How to Be an Antiracist

Ibram X. Kendi

4.2

Preview Summary

Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America--but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. In How to be an Antiracist, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it.

In this book, Kendi weav

35

The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates

Ralph Ketcham

4.2

36

The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution

Eric Foner

4.2

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian, an authoritative story of the constitutional changes that built equality into the nation’s foundation.

The Declaration of Independence announced equality as an American ideal, but it took the Civil War and the subsequent adoption of three constitutional amendments to establish that ideal as American law. The Reconstruction amendments abolished slavery, gua

37

Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty - Updated Edition

Randy E. Barnett

4.2

The U.S. Constitution found in school textbooks and under glass in Washington is not the one enforced today by the Supreme Court. In Restoring the Lost Constitution, Randy Barnett argues that since the nation's founding, but especially since the 1930s, the courts have been cutting holes in the original Constitution and its amendments to eliminate the parts that protect liberty from the power of go

38

The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Volume 2

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

4.2

Drawing on his own incarceration and exile, as well as on evidence from more than 200 fellow prisoners and Soviet archives, Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn reveals the entire apparatus of Soviet repression -- the state within the state that ruled all-powerfully.

Through truly Shakespearean portraits of its victims -- men, women, and children -- we encounter secret police operations, labor camps and pri

Cover unavailable

39

The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Volume 3

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

4.2

“BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE 20TH CENTURY” —Time

Volume 3 of the Nobel Prize winner’s towering masterpiece: Solzhenitsyn's moving account of resistance within the Soviet labor camps and his own release after eight years. Features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum.

“The greatest and most powerful single indictment of a political regime ever leveled in modern times.” —George F. Kennan

“It is impossible

40

The Oath: The Obama White House and The Supreme Court

Jeffrey Toobin, Robertson Dean

4.2

From the prizewinning author of The Nine, a gripping insider's account of the momentous ideological war between the John Roberts Supreme Court and the Obama administration.

From the moment John Roberts, the chief justice of the United States, blundered through the Oath of Office at Barack Obama's inauguration, the relationship between the Supreme Court and the White House has been confrontational.

41

The Ultimate Rule of Law

David M. Beatty

4.2

This book examines the judgments of leading courts around the world on issues such as religious freedom, sex discrimination, and social and economic rights. Beatty develops a radical alternative to the conventional view that in deciding these cases judges engage in an essentially interpretative, and thus subjective act, relying ultimately on their personal beliefs and political opinions. Beatty's

42

The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice: Black Lives, Healing, and US Social Transformation

Fania E. Davis

4.2

Racial Justice and Restorative Justice Working Together to Transform the Black Experience in America This timely work will inform scholars and practitioners on the subjects of pervasive racial inequity and the healing offered by restorative justice practices. Addressing the intersectionality of race and the US criminal justice system, social activist Fania Davis explores how restorative justice ha

43

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

4.2

An alternate cover edition of this ISBN can be found here.

Former slave, impassioned abolitionist, brilliant writer, newspaper editor and eloquent orator whose speeches fired the abolitionist cause, Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) led an astounding life. Physical abuse, deprivation and tragedy plagued his early years, yet through sheer force of character he was able to overcome these obstacles to be

Recommended by Bianca Belair.

Bianca Belair

For #BlackHistoryMonth I will be sharing some of my favorite books by Black Authors 6th Book: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass By: Frederick Douglass The 1st of many autobiographies that he wrote, and another classic you will find on almost every must-read A.A list. https://t.co/v5PgGpoqxQ [source]

44

Emanuel Law Outlines for Constitutional Law

Steven L. Emanuel

4.2

The most trusted name in law school outlines, Emanuel Law Outlines support your class preparation, provide reference for your outline creation, and supply a comprehensive breakdown of topic matter for your entire study process. Created by Steven Emanuel, these course outlines have been relied on by generations of law students. Each title includes both capsule and detailed versions of the critical

45

The Know Your Bill of Rights Book: Don't Lose Your Constitutional Rights--Learn Them!

Sean Patrick

4.2

46

Judicial Review of Constitutional Amendments: A Comparative Study

Pran Chopra

4.2

This monograph is an attempt to answer the following questions: Can constitutional courts review the constitutionality of constitutional amendments? If yes, to what extent? It is endeavored, in a comparative perspective, to answer these questions by examining the constitutions of several countries and the case law of the Austrian, German, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovenian and Turkish Constitutional C

47

UK Judiciary AS level essays

Peter Cram

4.2

48

Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America's Journey from Slavery to Segregation

Steve Luxenberg

4.2

Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court case synonymous with “separate but equal,” drew remarkably little attention when the justices announced their decision on May 18, 1896. Yet it is one of the most compelling and dramatic stories of the nineteenth century.

Told through the eyes of the people caught up in the case—the New Orleans resisters who brought it, the best-selling author recruited to argue

49

The Proper Role of Government

H. Verlan Benson Ezra Taft; Andersen

4.2

50

The Constitution of the United States of America, with the Bill of Rights and All of the Amendments; The Declaration of Independence; And the Articles

Thomas Jefferson

4.2

Collected here in one affordable volume are the most important documents of the United States of America: The Constitution of the United States of America, with the Bill of Rights and all of the Amendments; The Declaration of Independence; and the Articles of Confederation. These three documents are the basis for our entire way of life. Every citizen should have a copy.

51

Prisoners' Self-Help Litigation Manual

John Boston and Daniel E Manville

4.2

Prisoners' Self-Help Litigation Manual, in its much-anticipated fourth edition, is an indispensable guide for prisoners and prisoner advocates seeking to understand the rights guaranteed to prisoners by law and how to protect those rights. Clear, comprehensive, practical advice provides prisoners with everything they need to know on conditions of confinement, civil liberties in prison, procedura

52

Are Prisons Obsolete?

Angela Y. Davis

4.2

With her characteristic brilliance, grace and radical audacity, Angela Y. Davis has put the case for the latest abolition movement in American life: the abolition of the prison. As she quite correctly notes, American life is replete with abolition movements, and when they were engaged in these struggles, their chances of success seemed almost unthinkable. For generations of Americans, the abolitio

53

The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State

Nadia Murad

4.2

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

In this intimate memoir of survival, a former captive of the Islamic State tells her harrowing and ultimately inspiring story.

Nadia Murad was born and raised in Kocho, a small village of farmers and shepherds in northern Iraq. A member of the Yazidi community, she and her brothers and sisters lived a quiet life. Nadia had dreams of becoming a history teacher or op

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54

Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority

Tom Burrell

4.1

“Black people are not dark-skinned white people,” says advertising visionary Tom Burrell. In fact, they are much more. They are survivors of the Middle Passage and centuries of humiliation and deprivation, who have excelled against the odds, constantly making a way out of “No way!” At this pivotal point in history, the idea of black inferiority should have had a “Going-Out-of-Business Sale.” After

55

Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle for Equality

Richard Kluger

4.1

Simple Justice is generally regarded as the classic account of the U.S. Supreme Court’s epochal decision outlawing racial segregation and the centerpiece of African-Americans’ ongoing crusade for equal justice under law.

The 1954 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Brown v. Board of Education brought centuries of legal segregation in this country to an end. It was and remains, beyond question, one

56

Inherently Unequal: The Betrayal of Equal Rights by the Supreme Court, 1865-1903

Lawrence Goldstone

4.1

A potent and original examination of how the Supreme Court subverted justice and empowered the Jim Crow era.

In the following years following the Civil War, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery; the 14th conferred citizenship and equal protection under the law to white and black; and the 15th gave black American males the right to vote. In 1875, the most comprehensive civil rights legislation in th

57

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

Peter Irons

4.1

A comprehensive history of the people and cases that have changed history, this is the definitive account of the nation's highest court

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 Ir

58

Conversations with RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law

Jeffrey Rosen

4.1

In her own words, Ruth Bader Ginsburg offers an intimate look at her life and career, through an extraordinary series of conversations with the head of the National Constitution Center.

This remarkable book presents a unique portrait of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, drawing on more than twenty years of conversations with Jeffrey Rosen, starting in the 1990s and continuing through the Trump era. Rose

59

Constitutional Law and Politics: Struggles for Power and Governmental Accountability

David M. O'Brien

4.1

David O'Brien makes a daunting course more manageable by selecting and organizing the most important cases in U.S. history. The Tenth Edition includes headnotes and special feature boxes that give students the context they need to place individual cases--and the Court itself--in their larger context.

60

The U.S. Constitution: Explained--Clause by Clause--For Every American Today

Ray Raphael

4.1

Politicians come and go, but the Constitution stands as the supreme law of the land. Setting forth the workings of our democracy, it is the bedrock document from which we derive our policies on topics as diverse and galvanizing as immigration, gun ownership, voting rights, taxation, policing, civil liberties, and war.

In this indispensable edition, acclaimed historian and Constitutional expert Ray

61

The Constitution of the United States with the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation

James Madison

4.1

The most important documents of the United States of America are collected in this easy-to-read volume, which includes the Constitution of the United States of America, with all of the Amendments; The Declaration of Independence; the Articles of Confederation, and an appendix containing a list of the states by date of admission to the Union. Every citizen of the United States, student of history a

Cover unavailable

62

Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History

Andrew P. Napolitano

4.1

YOU'VE BEEN LIED TO BY THE GOVERNMENT

We shrug off this fact as an unfortunate reality. America is the land of the free, after all. Does it really matter whether our politicians bend the truth here and there?

When the truth is traded for lies, our freedoms are diminished and don't return.

In Lies the Government Told You, Judge Andrew P. Napolitano reveals how America's freedom, as guaranteed by the U

63

Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies

Erwin Chemerinsky

4.1

Relied on by students, professors, and practitioners, Erwin Chemerinsky's popular treatise, Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies, Fifth Edition, clearly states the law and identifies the underlying policy issues in each area of constitutional law.

64

Loving: Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White Supremacy

Sheryll Cashin

4.1

How interracial love and marriage changed history, and may soon alter the landscape of American politics.

Loving beyond boundaries is a radical act that is changing America. When Mildred and Richard Loving wed in 1958, they were ripped from their shared bed and taken to court. Their crime: miscegenation, punished by exile from their home state of Virginia. The resulting landmark decision of Loving

65

With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful

Glenn Greenwald

4.1

From "the most important voice to have entered the political discourse in years" (Bill Moyers), a scathing critique of the two-tiered system of justice that has emerged in America

From the nation's beginnings, the law was to be the great equalizer in American life, the guarantor of a common set of rules for all. But over the past four decades, the principle of equality before the law has been eff

66

The Structure of Liberty: Justice and the Rule of Law

Randy E. Barnett

4.1

In this book, legal scholar Randy Barnett elaborates and defends the fundamental premise of the Declaration of Independence: that all persons have a natural right to pursue happiness so long as they respect the equal rights of others, and that governments are only justly established to secure these rights.
Drawing upon insights from philosophy, economics, political theory, and law, Barnett explain

67

Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks Its Own Laws

Andrew P. Napolitano

4.1

In this alarming book, Fox News commentator Judge Napolitano makes the solid case that there is a pernicious and ever-expanding pattern of government abuse in America's criminal justice system, leading him to establish his general creed: "The government is not your friend." As an attorney, a law professor, a commentator, a judge, and now a successful television personality, Judge Napolitano has st

68

Negroes with Guns

Robert F. Williams

4.1

2013 Reprint of 1962 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Contains two essays by Martin Luther King Jr. concerning the role of violence in the civil rights movement. During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Robert Williams organized armed self-defense against the racist violence of the Ku Klux Klan. This is the story of his move

69

Written Out of History: The Forgotten Founders Who Fought Big Government

Mike Lee

4.1

Senator Mike Lee tells the story of the Founders whose warnings about the dangers of an all-powerful federal government helped shape our Constitution--but are being ignored today.

Today, most Americans are familiar only with the "big names" associated with the Founding - Washington, Adams, Madison, Hamilton and so on. Because we have forgotten so many of our lesser-known Founders, many of whom wa

70

When the State Speaks, What Should It Say?: How Democracies Can Protect Expression and Promote Equality

Corey Brettschneider

4.1

How should a liberal democracy respond to hate groups and others that oppose the ideal of free and equal citizenship? The democratic state faces the hard choice of either protecting the rights of hate groups and allowing their views to spread, or banning their views and violating citizens' rights to freedoms of expression, association, and religion. Avoiding the familiar yet problematic responses

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71

Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century

Thomas E. Woods

4.1

Thomas E. Woods, Jr., provides an eloquent defense of the politically divisive subject of nullification, a remedy used by states against unconstitutional federal power grabs.

72

Why John Roberts Was Wrong About Healthcare: A Conservative Critique of The Supreme Court's Obamacare Ruling

Sen. Mike Le

4.1

73

Habeas Data: Privacy vs. the Rise of Surveillance Tech

Cyrus Farivar

4.1

74

Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism

James W. Loewen

4.1

The award-winning look at an ugly aspect of American racism by the bestselling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, reissued with a new preface by the author.

In this groundbreaking work, sociologist James W. Loewen, author of the classic bestseller Lies My Teacher Told Me, brings to light decades of hidden racial exclusion in America. In a provocative, sweeping analysis of American residential patte

75

Sex and the Constitution: Sex, Religion, and Law from America's Origins to the Twenty-First Century

Geoffrey R. Stone

4.1

Beginning his volume in the ancient and medieval worlds, Geoffrey R. Stone demonstrates how the Founding Fathers, deeply influenced by their philosophical forebears, saw traditional Christianity as an impediment to the pursuit of happiness and to the quest for human progress. Acutely aware of the need to separate politics from the divisive forces of religion, the Founding Fathers crafted a constit

76

1861: The Civil War Awakening

Adam Goodheart

4.1

As the United States marks the 150th anniversary of our defining national drama, 1861 presents a gripping and original account of how the Civil War began.

1861 is an epic of courage and heroism beyond the battlefields. Early in that fateful year, a second American revolution unfolded, inspiring a new generation to reject their parents’ faith in compromise and appeasement, to do the unthinkable in t

77

The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty

Timothy Sandefu

4.1

This book follows Tooley in his travels from the largest shanty town in Africa to the mountains of Gansu, China, and of the children, parents, teachers, and entrepreneurs who taught him that the poor are not waiting for educational handouts. They are building their own schools and learning to save themselves.

78

Constitutional Law in Contemporary America, Volume Two: Civil Rights and Liberties

David Schultz, John R. Vile, Michelle D. Deardorff

4.1

Constitutional Law in Contemporary America is the most up-to-date, carefully edited, and student-friendly undergraduate constitutional law textbook. Placing a unique emphasis on property rights, election law, and issues of gender, gender orientation, foreign policy, and criminal due process, the two-volume text features:

* Skillfully edited excerpts of canonical Supreme Court decisions and lower

79

An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873

Benjamin Madley

4.1

The first full account of the government-sanctioned genocide of California Indians under United States rule

Between 1846 and 1873, California’s Indian population plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000. Benjamin Madley is the first historian to uncover the full extent of the slaughter, the involvement of state and federal officials, the taxpayer dollars that supported the violence, indigenous resis

80

Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People

Ben Crump

4.1

Genocide—the intent to destroy in whole or in part, a group of people.

In Open Season, award-winning attorney Ben Crump exposes a heinous truth: Whether with a bullet or a lengthy prison sentence, America is killing black people and justifying it legally. While some deaths make headlines, most are personal tragedies suffered within families and communities. Worse, these killings are done one person

81

Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores

Dominique DuBois Gilliard

4.0

2018 IVP Readers' Choice Award
16th Annual Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year - Social Issues/Justice
The United States has more people locked up in jails, prisons, and detention centers than any other country in the history of the world. Mass incarceration has become a lucrative industry, and the criminal justice system is plagued with bias and unjust practices. And the church has unwittingly c

82

No State Shall Abridge: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Bill of Rights

Michael Kent Curtis

4.0

“The book is carefully organized and well written, and it deals with a question that is still of great importance—what is the relationship of the Bill of Rights to the states.”—Journal of American History“Curtis effectively settles a serious legal debate: whether the framers of the 14th Amendment intended to incorporate the Bill of Rights guarantees and thereby inhibit state action. Taking on a fo

83

The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court

Bob Woodward, Scott Armstrong

4.0

The Brethren is the first detailed behind-the-scenes account of the Supreme Court in action.

Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong have pierced its secrecy to give us an unprecedented view of the Chief and Associate Justices—maneuvering, arguing, politicking, compromising, and making decisions that affect every major area of American life.

84

Impeachment: An American History

Jon Meacham, Timothy Naftali, Peter Baker, Jeffrey A. Engel

4.0

Four experts on the American presidency review the only three impeachment cases from history--against Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton--and explore its power and meaning for today.

Impeachment is rare, and for good reason. Designed to check tyrants or defend the nation from a commander-in-chief who refuses to do so, the process of impeachment outlined in the Constitution is what Thom

85

The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction

Professor Akhil Reed Amar, Akhil Reed Amar

4.0

Are the deep insights of Hugo Black, William Brennan, and Felix Frankfurter that have defined our cherished Bill of Rights fatally flawed? With meticulous historical scholarship and elegant legal interpretation a leading scholar of Constitutional law boldly answers yes as he explodes conventional wisdom about the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution in this incisive new account of our mos

86

Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope

Nicholas D. Kristof

4.0

The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of the acclaimed, best-selling Half the Sky now issue a plea--deeply personal and told through the lives of real Americans--to address the crisis in working-class America, while focusing on solutions to mend a half century of governmental failure.

With stark poignancy and political dispassion, Tightrope draws us deep into an "other America." The authors tell this

87

Chokehold: Policing Black Men

Paul Butler

4.0

With the eloquence of Ta-Nehisi Coates and the persuasive research of Michelle Alexander, a former federal prosecutor explains how the system really works, and how to disrupt it

Cops, politicians, and ordinary people are afraid of black men. The result is the Chokehold: laws and practices that treat every African American man like a thug. In this explosive new book, an African American former feder

Recommended by Bryan Stevenson.

Bryan Stevenson

Paul Butler illuminates the complexities that shape racial injustice in America with a sharp, critical, intersectional analysis that is honest and sobering. Chokehold deconstructs all of the forces that have created despair and violence in the criminal justice system but courageously posits solutions as well. An important read for anyone searching for a more just system. [source]

88

Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877

Eric Foner

4.0

This "masterful treatment of one of the most complex periods of American history" (New Republic) made history when it was originally published in 1988. It redefined how Reconstruction was viewed by historians and people everywhere in its chronicling of how Americans -- black and white -- responded to the unprecedented changes unleashed by the war and the end of slavery. This "smart book of enormou

89

Terms of Engagement: How Our Courts Should Enforce the Constitution's Promise of Limited Government

Clark M. Neily III

4.0

Government at every level is too big, too powerful, and too intrusive. But don’t blame just legislators and members of the executive branch for constantly overstepping their constitutional bounds. As Clark Neily argues in The Terms of Engagement, judges have more than their fair share of the blame. While liberals seek court rulings creating positive rights to things like free health care and conse

90

You Have the Right to Remain Innocent

James Duane

4.0

An urgent, compact manifesto that will teach you how to protect your rights, your freedom, and your future when talking to police.

Law professor James J. Duane became a viral sensation thanks to a 2008 lecture outlining the reasons why you should never agree to answer questions from the police—especially if you are innocent and wish to stay out of trouble with the law. In this timely, relevant, and

91

The Souls of Black Folk

W.E.B. Du Bois

4.0

This landmark book is a founding work in the literature of black protest. W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) played a key role in developing the strategy and program that dominated early 20th-century black protest in America. In this collection of essays, first published together in 1903, he eloquently affirms that it is beneath the dignity of a human being to beg for those rights that belong inherently

Recommended by Barack Obama.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

According to the president’s Facebook page and a 2008 interview with the New York Times, these titles are among his most influential forever favorites: Moby Dick, Herman Melville Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson Song Of Solomon, Toni Morrison Parting The Waters, Taylor Branch Gilead, Marylinne Robinson Best and the Brightest, David Halberstam The Federalist, Alexander Hamilton Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene The Quiet American, Graham Greene Cancer Ward, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Gandhi’s autobiography Working, Studs Terkel Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith All the King’s Men, Robert Penn Warren [source]

92

Target Africa: Ideological Neocolonialism in the Twenty-First Century

Obianuju Ekeocha

4.0

Since the end of colonization Africa has struggled with socio-economic and political problems. These challanges have attracted wealthy donors from Western nations and organizations that have assumed the roles of helper and deliverer. While some donors have good intentions, others seek to impose their ideology of sexual liberation. These are the ideological neocolonial masters of the twenty-first c

93

Limiting Government: An Introduction to Constitutionalism

Andras Sajo

4.0

This book discusses the mechanisms to restrict government power through social self-binding, including different forms of the separation of powers and constitutional review. Written in non-technical language and using the most important English, American, French, and German examples of constitutional history, the book also examines East European (in particular, Russian) and Latin American examples

Cover unavailable

94

The Little Book of Racial Healing: Coming to the Table for Truth-Telling, Liberation, and Transformation

Thomas Norman DeWolf

4.0

This book introduces Coming to the Table’s approach to a continuously evolving set of purposeful theories, ideas, experiments, guidelines, and intentions, all dedicated to facilitating racial healing and transformation.

People of color, relative to white people, fall on the negative side of virtually all measurable social indicators. The “living wound” is seen in the significant disparities in aver

95

Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement

Ann Bausum

4.0

Freedom Riders compares and contrasts the childhoods of John Lewis and James Zwerg in a way that helps young readers understand the segregated experience of our nation's past. It shows how a common interest in justice created the convergent path that enabled these young men to meet as Freedom Riders on a bus journey south.

No other book on the Freedom Riders has used such a personal perspective. T

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96

Constitutional Law for Criminal Justice

Jacqueline R. Kanovitz

4.0

Criminal justice professionals often do not receive the training they need to recognize the constitutional principles that apply to their daily work. Constitutional Law for Criminal Justice offers a way to solve this problem by providing a comprehensive, well-organized, and up-to-date analysis of constitutional issues that affect criminal justice professionals. Chapter 1 summarizes the organizatio

97

Theological-Political Treatise

Baruch Spinoza, Samuel Shirley, et al.

4.0

Rational examination of the Old Testament to show that freedom of thought and speech is consistent with the religious life. True religion consists in practice of simple piety, independent of philosophical speculation.

Recommended by A C Grayling and Anthony Gottlieb.

A C Grayling

This is a work which is perhaps of all Spinoza’s works the most accessible, he is a tremendously significant figure for our modern age. [source]

Anthony Gottlieb

The first real biblical criticism, and still the best critique of traditional theism (i.e., the view that God is like a person). [source]

Cover unavailable

98

James Baldwin. Steve Schapiro. The Fire Next Time

James Baldwin

4.0

99

The Constitution: An Introduction

Michael Stokes Paulsen, Luke Paulsen

4.0

From war powers to health care, freedom of speech to gun ownership, religious liberty to abortion, practically every aspect of American life is shaped by the Constitution. This vital document, along with its history of political and judicial interpretation, governs our individual lives and the life of our nation. Yet most of us know surprisingly little about the Constitution itself, and are woeful

100

The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation

Granville Austin

4.0

The Indian Constitution provides a history of the Indian Constituent Assembly. It discusses how and why the members of the Assembly wrote their constitution as they did. This new edition of Austin's classic work has a preface that brings it up to date with contemporary developments in constitutional law.