America's Constitution: A Biography | 
 enlarge | Author: Akhil Reed Amar
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 100612
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 672
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.8
ISBN: 1400062624
Dewey Decimal Number: 342.73029
EAN: 9781400062621
ASIN: 1400062624
Publication Date: September 13, 2005
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Product Description
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: the Constitution is neither immutable nor perfect. Amar shows us how the story of this one relatively compact document reflects the story of America more generally. (For example, much of the Constitution, including the glorious-sounding “We the People,” was lifted from existing American legal texts, including early state constitutions.) In short, the Constitution was as much a product of its environment as it was a product of its individual creators’ inspired genius.
Despite the Constitution’s flaws, its role in guiding our republic has been nothing short of amazing. Skillfully placing the document in the context of late-eighteenth-century American politics, America’s Constitution explains, for instance, whether there is anything in the Constitution that is unamendable; the reason America adopted an electoral college; why a president must be at least thirty-five years old; and why–for now, at least–only those citizens who were born under the American flag can become president.
From his unique perspective, Amar also gives us unconventional wisdom about the Constitution and its significance throughout the nation’s history. For one thing, we see that the Constitution has been far more democratic than is conventionally understood. Even though the document was drafted by white landholders, a remarkably large number of citizens (by the standards of 1787) were allowed to vote up or down on it, and the document’s later amendments eventually extended the vote to virtually all Americans.
We also learn that the Founders’ Constitution was far more slavocratic than many would acknowledge: the “three fifths” clause gave the South extra political clout for every slave it owned or acquired. As a result, slaveholding Virginians held the presidency all but four of the Republic’s first thirty-six years, and proslavery forces eventually came to dominate much of the federal government prior to Lincoln’s election.
Ambitious, even-handed, eminently accessible, and often surprising, America’s Constitution is an indispensable work, bound to become a standard reference for any student of history and all citizens of the United States.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
 The Constitution is broken November 23, 2008
Professor Amar knows the US Constitution is broken, dead, corrupted, and he is one of the few people smart enough to fix it. As a private citizen who is concerned about the serious dangers confronting our country, I summon Professor Amar and over one hundred other of the nation's best thinkers, politicians, statespersons, Constitutional scholars, foreign policy experts, business leaders, and media stars to Independence Hall in Philadelphia beginning July 4th, 2009, to craft an alternative Constitution. I ask them to fix serious flaws regarding the balance of power among the three branches of government, to fix foreign policy, to prevent crime & tyranny & foreign terrorism, to define citizenship, to limit partisanship, to preserve privacy, and to write a new document that is as well written and brief as the first one.
 From a Court-historan for party-hacks October 22, 2008
Amar makes the contradictory claims that the Constitution was ratified by the peoples of the individual sovereign states, but that somehow they also did so as "one people" that he admits didn't even exist as a legitimate ratifying body. And it just goes downhill from there; Amar, being a satist lackey, reads powers into the Constitution that would have the Framers and States calling for his head on a platter-- most notably the power of the federal government to interpret the same Constitution that supposedl LIMITS its powers, thus being the judge of its own powers as Jefferson warned.
However that doesn't bother Amir, who naively and arrogantly holds the Constitution as so utterly "brilliant" and "perfect" on its "checks and balances," as to circumvent any such possibility of abuse; and on this point alone, Amar disqualifies his analysis from any intelligent consideration.
However this is only the beginning of such fawning disqualifications, as Amar displays himself as a true lackey of Leviathanism.
A rare gem June 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a remarkable book. The author's knowledge, insight, analysis and synthesis are amazing. There's too much to praise about it, so I'll just mention one aspect: Amar makes a very compelling case that from the beginning slavery was a disease spreading infection in our society and political system (aided by the 3/5 clause), increasingly corrupting our character and institutions until a terribly bloody breaking point was reached. The evil was partially righted, then amorality returned, allowing a viciousness to fester until another crisis led to new progress. But it remains that slavery and its legacy constitute the central national failure, which we still haven't nearly corrected. Most of the book is quite positive, and slavery's not the principal focus, but Amar's treatment of it is both convincing and unforgettable.
scholarly, yet readable April 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For decades I've been wandering about with a mish mash of semi-contradictory ideas about the constitution. Mr. Amar has managed to correct, justify, and reframe most of them into a (_thoroughly_ documented) coherent whole.
Where the constitution is unclear, he quotes the debates and letters of the founders explaining what they meant. Where there is modern debate, he footnotes where to look for different viewpoints. Where there was debate during the writing of the constitution, he tells you who said what and why.
That would probably be enough to earn 5 stars, but he somehow managed to turn an erudite treatise on the history of one government into a page-turner. I don't know how, but there it is...
A must read. March 5, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Wow, I learned more about the consitution then I ever could have imagined. I didn't have any idea about many of the themes and debates over the constitution and it's amendments. I'm a novice at political thinking, before the presidential campaign I could've care less about politics. Some of this is a bit over my head since I don't have a background in law or political history. However, Mr. Amar explains it well enough that most should understand. I can't recommend it enough for anyone interested in the constitution.
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