Savage, David

• Turning Right: The Making of the Rehnquist Supreme Court

  • Ok, I'm a little biased. The workings of the Supreme Court fascinate me, and this book does a great job of describing the history of the Court from 1985-1992 (the ascendancy of Rehnquist to Chief Justice through the confirmation of Clarence Thomas). Dozens of very important cases are broken down very concisely into 1-3 page summaries of the principles involved and the opinions and arguments of the justices. This alone is well worth the read, but you also get insights into the day-to-day workings of the Court, such as the surprisingly important role played by clerks, and brief biographies of all the justices. Politically, I would say this book is slanted a bit to the liberal side, and I am troubled by the way Savage is quick to point out hypocrisy in the conservatives while not jumping on liberals with equal fervor. On the other hand, he gives a pretty objective treatment of the Thomas hearings and typically gives equal time to both sides of a given case with the editorializing comments rare enough that they can be easily ignored. I strongly recommend this book, but it is hard to find (I had to go to a huge Barnes & Noble).

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