America's finest eighteenth-century student of political science, John Adams is also the least studied of the Revolution's key figures. By the time he became our second president, no American had written more about our government and not even Jefferson or Madison had read as widely about questions of human nature, natural right, political organization, and constitutional construction. Yet this staunch constitutionalist is perceived by many as having become reactionary in his later years and his ideas have been largely disregarded. In the first major work on Adams's political thought in over thirty years, C. Bradley Thompson takes issue with the notion that Adams's thought is irrelevant to the development of American ideas. Focusing on Adams's major writings, Thompson elucidates and reevaluates his political and constitutional thought by interpreting it within the tradition of political philosophy stretching from Plato to Montesquieu. This major revisionist study shows that the distinction Adams drew between "principles of liberty" and "principles of political architecture" is central to his entire political philosophy. Thompson first chronicles Adams's conceptualization of moral and political liberty during his confrontation with American Loyalists and British imperial officers over the true nature of justice and the British Constitution, illuminating Adams's two most important pre-Revolutionary essays, "A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law" and "The Letters of Novanglus." He then presents Adams's debate with French philosophers over the best form of government and provides an extended analysis of his Defence of the Constitutions of Government and Discourses on Davila to demonstrate his theory of political architecture. From these pages emerges a new John Adams. In reexamining his political thought, Thompson reconstructs the contours and influences of Adams's mental universe, the ideas he challenged, the problems he considered central to constitution-making, and the methods of his reasoning. Skillfully blending history and political science, Thompson's work shows how the spirit of liberty animated Adams's life and reestablishes this forgotten Revolutionary as an independent and important thinker.

Tocqueville s thesis on the relation between religion and liberty, could hardly be timelier. Every day s newspaper, every college campus, many recent Supreme Court decisions raise the issue in one form or another. From events in the Middle East and the spread of Islamist violence in the name of religion, to the mandated coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the interaction between religion and politics has once again become central to our political life. Tocqueville, facing the coming of a new social and political order within the lingeringly traditional society that was France, faced this relation between politics and religion with freshness and relevance. He was particularly interested to report to his French compatriots on how the Americans had, in his opinion, successfully resolved what, to many Frenchmen, looked to be an insuperable conflict. He thought otherwise, and believed that the Americans had shown why not. His surprising thesis was that the right kind of arrangement of the relationa certain kind of separation of church and state that was not also at the same time a complete separation of religion and politicswas shown in 19th century America to be beneficial to both liberty and religion. Our volume investigates whether Tocqueville s depiction was valid for the America he investigated in the 1830 s, was theoretically plausible, and remains valid (if it ever was) in the 21st century."

Billings Learned Hand was one of the most influential judges in America. In Learned Hand: The Man and the Judge, Gerald Gunther provides a complete and intimate account of the professional and personal life of Learned Hand. He conveys the substance and range of Hand's judicial and intellectual contributions with eloquence and grace. This second edition features photos of Learned Hand throughout his life and career, and includes a foreword by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Gunther, a former law clerk for Hand, reviewed much of Hand's published work, opinions, and correspondence. He meticulously describes Hand's cases, and discusses the judge's professional and personal life as interconnected with the political and social circumstances of the times in which he lived. Born in 1872, Hand served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He clearly crafted and delivered thousands of decisions in a wide range of cases through extensive, conscientious investigation and analysis, while at the same time exercising wisdom and personal detachment. His opinions are still widely quoted today, and will remain as an everlasting tribute to his life and legacy.

Traces the history of the United States from the arrival of the first Indian peoples to the present day.

We entered a broad corridor with a wide-planked hardwood floor, polished to a high sheen. Voices came from a room off to one side. When we pushed open the door, I saw George Washington standing behind a podium, addressing some of his peers from mortality, including many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Thus began Suzanne Freeman's visit with America's Founding Fathers during a near-death experience. While in the Spirit World, she was shown the tribulations and sacrifices these men and women had faced during their lifetimes as they established the United States of America. She also learned that these valiant leaders still care deeply about America and are concerned about the direction the country is headed. As Suzanne's visit with the Founders concluded, she was given a vision of America's future-our future. It was made clear to her that while there would be challenging times ahead, America could retain its place as a chosen land if the citizens truly desire it. The Founders pleaded with Suzanne to return to earth and share their message of how we must strengthen our nation before it is too late. As you read their words, the Spirit of Liberty will grow within your own soul and give you hope that America's future can indeed remain bright.