Product Description

From the Revolution to the Age of Jackson, John Marshall played a crucial role in defining the "province of the judiciary" and the constitutional limits of legislative action. This book clarifies the coherence of Marshall's jurisprudence, while keeping in sight the man as well as the jurist.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #584260 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This biography of John Marshall's life and thought revises the revisionism. Early biographies of Marshall (chief justice of the Untied States, 1801-1835) tended to be blindly respectful. Then came the four-volume biography by Albert J. Beveridge that appeared between 1916 and 1919. Beveridge popularized Marshall as an intelligent bumpkin, whose willful ignorance of legal precedent allowed him to practice creative jurisprudence. Hobson believes otherwise. The premise of this book is that Marshall had a masterful understanding of precedent. Hobson makes a convincing case, aided by his editorship, beginning in 1979, of Marshall's papers. (To date, eight volumes of those papers have been published.) Hobson gained additional insight into Marshall's times and thought by serving as editor of James Madison's papers. The way Madison's thought illuminates Marshall's thought, and vice versa, is fascinating. At one point, Hobson comments that the vision of a new nation inspiring Madison was the same vision inspiring Marshall as chief justice several decades later. That shared vision meant continuity in American jurisprudence until the presidency of Andrew Jackson, when a communal society began turning into an individualistic quasi-democracy. Hobson's research is impressive and his writing clear. This is not the book to read for an understanding of Marshall's life outside the courtroom. It is the book to read if the goal is understanding the life of Marshall's mind.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Since 1990, there have been a number of new biographies of Supreme Court justices from Hugo Black to Thurgood Marshall. So it is no surprise that John Marshall, chief justice from 1801 until his death in 1835 and the principal founder of the American system of constitutional law, should receive renewed attention. Certainly, Marshall has not been ignored by historians and biographers. Albert Beveridge's The Life of John Marshall (1916-19) remains the classic, and briefer works, both with the title John Marshall, have been authored by Leonard Baker (1974) and Francis Stite (1981). Hobson, chief editor of "The John Marshall Papers" documentary project at the College of William and Mary since 1979, combines a historian's perspective with experience in document editing. Editing Marshall's papers gave Hobson an appreciation for Marshall's vigorous constitutional vision, which he examines in this judicial biography. Hobson writes of Marshall's jurisprudence in the areas of judicial review, the contract clause, and national supremacy. This excellent work is strongly recommended for academic, law, and larger public libraries.?Jerry E. Stephens, U.S. Court of Appeals Lib., Oklahoma City
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"In this clear and concise work, Hobson challenges many traditional assumptions about the nation's most famous chief justice. He depicts John Marshall as 'a master of the law' who consciously sought to separate the political from the legal." -- Journal of Southern History

"Learned, deft, concise, economical, and, appropriately enough, judicious. A remarkably thoughtful appraisal." -- Jack N. Rakove, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography

Customer Reviews

This is how he did it.........
John Marshall [1755-1835] was Chief Justice of the United States for the last 34 years of his life. During his long tenure, he turned the Supreme Court from an afterthought into a primary tool for the centralization of federal power; he defined America, though we can still debate whether he got the definition right. This book details how Marshall went about his task.....

This is NOT a biography of John Marshall [see my other reviews]; it is a series of case studies which trace the expanding power of the Federal Judiciary...Marbury v. Madison established the principle of Judicial review of legislative decisions...Virginia v. Cohens asserted federal authority in state affairs...the National Bank...land titles...Indian treaties......there is still disagreement over some of Marshall's decisions, and there was hell to pay over some of them at the time. "John Marshall has made his decision; now let's see him enforce it"...the various ramifications of that statement {which Andrew Jackson MAY not have ever made} are mind boggling....

Charles Hobson is editor of The John Marshall Papers, one of the 2 or 3 greatest living Marshall scholars, and a nice guy [as was Marshall]; he has written a five star book. Do I actually recommend it? Maybe. If you are an attorney or historian with an interest in the topic, it is an absolutely essential volume. Well written, well organized; for me, it was a page turner. For the casual reader, don't waste your money, or insult Mr. Hobson. You will need a good background in either Law [not me], or history [me] to understand it.