Pauline Maier is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of American History at M.I.T. She received her PhD from Harvard University in 1968. She is the author of several books and textbooks on American history, including From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition to Britain, 1765-1776, The Old Revolutionaries: Political Lives in the Age of Samuel Adams, and American Scripture, which was on the New York Times Book Review "Editor's Choice" list of the best 11 books of 1997 and a finalist in General Nonfiction for the National Book Critics' Circle Award. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
"[Pauline Maier] brilliantly tracks the fight over the
Constitution's ratification. . . . A scrupulously even-handed
presentation based on impressive scholarship." --Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)
"I can't imagine a better subject for Pauline Maier's storytelling
skills than the statewide debates over whether to ratify the U.S.
Constitution. Never before or since has such a broad cross-section
of Americans addressed such fundamental issues of government. Maier
follows the debate beyond the legislative chambers into the taverns
and homes of ordinary Americans as they made their momentous
decision." --Woody Holton, author of Abigail Adams and Unruly
Americans and the Origins of the Constitution
"Pauline Maier has written a magnificent, comprehensive account of
the political contests by which the people of America, in James
Madison's words, breathed 'life and validity' into the United
States Constitution. Her book will stand as the definitive account
of the story of the ratification of the Constitution for many
decades to come." --Richard R. Beeman, professor of history,
University of Pennsylvania, and author of Plain, Honest Men: The
Making of the American Constitution
"The ratification of the Constitution was the most comprehensive
and consequential political debate in American history. It is quite
amazing that the story has never before been told with the
knowledge and flair it deserves. Here Pauline Maier, one of the
leading historians of the revolutionary era, at the peak of her
powers, tells that story with style, wit, and incomparable mastery
of the sources." --Joseph J. Ellis, author of First Family: Abigail
and John Adams
"With the confidence of a master, Pauline Maier has told the story
of the ratification of the Constitution in a book that will endure
for decades." --Joyce Appleby, author of Inheriting the Revolution:
The First Generation of Americans
"The adoption of the Constitution in 1787-1788 was the first great
stroke of popular democracy in America, and perhaps its most
successful and momentous as well. Yet surprisingly, the full story
of ratification has never been told. Now, at long last, Pauline
Maier's sweeping account of ratification brilliantly describes how
this great event took place."
--Jack N. Rakove, author of Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas
in the Making of the Constitution
Writing the Constitution was the easy part, argues eminent historian Maier. Ratification required special committees for each state elected by popular vote. During the ensuing year, citizens gathered throughout the country to argue the merits of the young nation's Constitution and the accompanying Bill of Rights. (LJ 9/15/10) (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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