About the Author

Jane Sherron De Hart is professor emerita of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Reviews

“Readable and rewarding. . . . Ginsburg is a true-blue legal icon.”
—NPR

“Engaging and admiring.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“In a revealing new biography, 15 years in the making, Jane Sherron De Hart helps untangle the mystery of the decorous Ginsburg as feminist gladiator.”
—The Atlantic

 “An in-depth biography of the Supreme Court justice who has become a pop-culture icon.”
—USA Today

“De Hart’s thorough biography relates this life story with a nice sense of the sweep of feminist and legal history that is contained within it.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Monumental. . . . The first comprehensive biography of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. . . . De Hart excels in explaining the majority opinions, and later the dissents, in which she participated with remarkable clarity, illuminating the issues, the competing positions, and the significance of each in language easily grasped by readers with no legal training.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

 “De Hart’s great strength is her ability to explain Ginsburg's cases and the legal strategies she employed. . . . An insightful, fascinating, and admiring biography of one of America’s most extraordinary jurists.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Meticulously researched. . . . Ginsburg’s career is skillfully placed within the context of American social and political history.”
—Library Journal

“Passionate and thorough. . . . A major event in scholarship on American law.”
—Washington Monthly

 “Scholarly, yet accessible. . . . Rewarding and compelling.”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Magisterial and timely. . . . Written in clear language and grounded in historical context.”
—The Forward

 “Compelling. . . . De Hart succeeds in showing us that the 107th person to be appointed to the Supreme Court is much more than a pop culture icon.”
—Jewish Journal

“A masterful biography that adds depth and insight to Ginsburg's only-in-America life story.”
—Washington Independent Review of Books

“De Hart displays an impressive grasp of each area of Ginsburg’s legal influence, from women’s rights to voting rights to gay rights to immigrant rights, with a particular focus on striking down laws that discriminated on the basis of gender.”
—Newsweek

“A rigorous, comprehensive, deftly written biography.”
—The National Book Review

 “De Hart dynamically devotes more than 500 pages to the amazing life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. . . . This extensively documented account. . .is also quite engaging and very easy to read.”
—Booklist (starred review)