"Engaging . . . With a novelist's eye for biographical detail, Epps has written an . . . enthralling book."--David W. Blight, Chicago Tribune
The last battle of the Civil War wasn't fought at Appomattox by dashing generals or young soldiers but by middle-aged men in frock coats. Yet it was war all the same--a desperate struggle for the soul and future of the new American Republic that was rising from the ashes of Civil War. It was the battle that planted the seeds of democracy, under the bland heading "Amendment XIV." Scholars call it the "Second Constitution." Over...
"Engaging . . . With a novelist's eye for biographical detail, Epps has written an . . . enthralling book."--David W. Blight, Chicago Tribune...
An All the King's Men for Virginia, The Shad Treatment vividly chronicles politics in the Old Dominion during the Byrd regime's decline in the 1970s. Thomas Jefferson "Tom Jeff" Shadwell is leading a "people's crusade" to liberate the Governor's Mansion from the grip of the conservative political machine that has controlled the state for fifty years. Against him are ranged the powerful forces that have kept the state back for so long--unreconstructed race-baiting politicians, gentleman farmers, giant corporations, and the "best families." The campaign promises to be the toughest, dirtiest,...
An All the King's Men for Virginia, The Shad Treatment vividly chronicles politics in the Old Dominion during the Byrd regime's decline in the 1970s. ...
The press in the United States is freer than in any other country in the world, and virtually any in history. American courts give critics of society and government extraordinary freedom to disseminate views that are unpopular, subversive, and even hateful. How did freedom of the press evolve over the centuries, what values does American press freedom claim to serve today, and what challenges will this right face in the twenty-first century? These are some of the important questions addressed in this scholarly but accessible volume on one of our most important freedoms guaranteed by the First...
The press in the United States is freer than in any other country in the world, and virtually any in history. American courts give critics of society ...
"The story of the constitutional showdown over Native Americans' religious use of peyote"
With the grace of a novel, this book chronicles the six-year duel between two remarkable men with different visions of religious freedom in America.
Neither sought the conflict. Al Smith, a substance-abuse counselor to Native Americans, wanted only to earn a living. Dave Frohnmayer, the attorney general of Oregon, was planning his gubernatorial campaign and seeking care for his desperately ill daughters. But before this constitutional confrontation was over, Frohnmayer and Smith twice asked the...
"The story of the constitutional showdown over Native Americans' religious use of peyote"
With the grace of a novel, this book chronicles the six...
In 1987, E.L. Doctorow celebrated the Constitution's bicentennial by reading it. "It is five thousand words long but reads like fifty thousand," he said. Distinguished legal scholar Garrett Epps-- himself an award-winning novelist--disagrees. It's about 7,500 words. And Doctorow "missed a good deal of high rhetoric, many literary tropes, and even a trace of, if not wit, at least irony," he writes. Americans may venerate the Constitution, "but all too seldom is it read." In American Epic, Epps takes us through a complete reading of the Constitution--even the "boring" parts--to achieve an...
In 1987, E.L. Doctorow celebrated the Constitution's bicentennial by reading it. "It is five thousand words long but reads like fifty thousand," he sa...
In this provocative and insightful book, constitutional scholar and journalist Garrett Epps reviews the key decisions of the 2013-2014 Supreme Court term through the words of the nation's nine most powerful legal authorities. Epps succinctly outlines one opinion or dissent from each Justice during the recent term, using it to illuminate the political and ideological views that prevail on the Court. The result is a highly readable summary of the term's most controversial cases as well as a probing investigation of the issues and personalities that shape the Court's decisions. Accompanied by a...
In this provocative and insightful book, constitutional scholar and journalist Garrett Epps reviews the key decisions of the 2013-2014 Supreme Court t...