Unlike constitutional law classes, which teach you how to litigate the present, this book (or more accurately, these two volumes -- vol 2 isn't up at the moment) is a good complement to what is taught as constitutional law in law school. But a law school education isn't necessary to appreciate these books; they provide a context that can be appreciated by themselves.

The first volume (the red one) covers the history of constitutions from the earliest colonial covenants up to the Civil War. The second volume (the blue one) covers the Reconstruction (including the Johnson impeachment and the 1876 presidential controversy) up through the Iran-Contra and up until the early 90s (at least in my volume).

The tone of the works treats the Constitution as almost like a new world colony, upon which one or another group stakes its flag on a certain clause therein, and then chronicling the history of such claims over time. The constitutional right to own slaves came and went. The economic due process decisions came and went. The New Deal excesses came and went. The Warren Court changes have come, and many of them have now gone.

The constitution is not left unchanged, but it is not changed as much as the ideologues in each of those eras would have liked. As long as we can hope that there is something in the constitution that we can hope will outlast the public demand of the moment, the better the chances are that the republic will survive.

This book is a must read for those interested in understanding the evolutionary development of the American Constitution. Not only do the authors provide understandable interpretations of significant Supreme Court decisions, but they also capture the Zeitgeist which also played a major role. This book is well researched and written for scholars and non-scholars alike. Highly recommended for anyone interested in American history.