Promotional Information

Named as a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book of 1997

Reviews

"Tushnet has produced an account of what went on within the Supreme Court during Marshall's tenure that is not only well researched but also well written. Readers without a legal background will appreciate his very clear explanations of arcane doctrines...Tushnet offers readers extremely informative accounts of the court's internal arguments over civil rights and the death penalty."--America Historical Review
"By sticking to constitutional law issues...Tushnet is able to tie the pieces together into a fascinating and worthwhile journey through the life of the nation's first African American Supreme Court justice. Highly recommended for both general and academic readers at any level interested in law, political science, history, ethnic studies, or cultural studies."--Choice
"Weaving a narrative mainly from the public records of Marshall and other justices, interviews with colleagues and his own personal recollections as a clerk for Justice Marshall, Tushnet has delivered another impressive account of Justice Marshall's influence on the making ofcivil rights and constitutional law. It is a book deserving of a close reading by scholars of Supreme Court jurisprudence."--Ihe Law and Politics Book Review
"Tushent boldly and honestly portrays Marshall's constitutional jurisprudence...[a] fine study of Marshall."--Los Angeles Daily Journal
"Making Constitutional Law stands as a learned tribute to a man who never forgot what the civil rights struggle was about and the centrality of the Constitution in that struggle.Marshall truly fought the good fight, and departed with his head high. Professor Tushnet has reminded us why we are so proud of this man in whom so many of us placed our faith."--Nathaniel R. Jones, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
"Tushnet has produced an account of what went on within the Supreme Court during Marshall's tenure that is not only well researched but also well written. Readers without a legal background will appreciate his very clear explanations of arcane doctrines...Tushnet offers readers extremely informative accounts of the court's internal arguments over civil rights and the death penalty."--America Historical Review
"By sticking to constitutional law issues...Tushnet is able to tie the pieces together into a fascinating and worthwhile journey through the life of the nation's first African American Supreme Court justice. Highly recommended for both general and academic readers at any level interested in law, political science, history, ethnic studies, or cultural studies."--Choice
"Weaving a narrative mainly from the public records of Marshall and other justices, interviews with colleagues and his own personal recollections as a clerk for Justice Marshall, Tushnet has delivered another impressive account of Justice Marshall's influence on the making ofcivil rights and constitutional law. It is a book deserving of a close reading by scholars of Supreme Court jurisprudence."--The Law and Politics Book Review
"Tushent boldly and honestly portrays Marshall's constitutional jurisprudence...[a] fine study of Marshall."--Los Angeles Daily Journal
"Making Constitutional Law stands as a learned tribute to a man who never forgot what the civil rights struggle was about and the centrality of the Constitution in that struggle.Marshall truly fought the good fight, and departed with his head high. Professor Tushnet has reminded us why we are so proud of this man in whom so many of us placed our faith."--Nathaniel R. Jones, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
"...interesting and ambitious....The major strength of Professor Tushnet's book lies in his study of Marshall--his appointment to the bench, his approach to the law, his jurisprudence, and his impact on legal developments and his Supreme Court collegues."--New York Law Journal
"Making Constitutional Law stands as a learned tribute to a man who never forgot what the civil rights struggle was about and the centrality of the Constitution in that struggle....Professor Tushnet has reminded us why we are so proud of this man in whom so many of us placed our faith."--JURIST
"...[Making Constitutional Law] is intended for students of the Supreme Court and American constitutional law who will appreciate Tushnet's careful research and scholarship."--MultiCultural Review
"A distinguished legal scholar and professor of law, one of [Thurgood] Marshall's former clerks, and the author of an earlier volume on Marshall's career from 1936 to 1961, Tushnet has added this second and final volume to an already impressive list of pulications...Impressively researched and clearly written, it provides a systematic analysis of a variety of complex issues of law and policy...The book is full of interesting and trenchant
observations."--The Historian
"Making Constitutional Law is a convincing assessment of Marshall's strengths and weaknesses but is most interesting for its descriptions of the court's dynamics in the 1970s and 1980s. Tushnet's volume is recommended for graduate and law libraries."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society