No other nation's creation, both politically and socially, owes such a debt to lawyers as the United States of America. This book traces the story of that creation through the human lives of those who played important parts in it: amongst others, of English lawyers who established the form of the original colonies; of the Founding Fathers, who declared independence and created a Constitution; of Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Justices of the Supreme Court and finally Barack Obama. Even Richard Nixon features, if only as a reminder that even the President is subject to the law. The author combines his wide legal experience and engaging writing style to produce a book that will enthral lawyers and laymen alike, giving perhaps a timely reminder of the importance of the rule of law to American democracy.TOC after the jump
1. Prologue: Walter Raleigh
2. Maps and Explorers: Richard Hakluyt
3. The Virginia Company: John Popham
4. Democracy: Edwyn Sandys
5. Religion and Liberty: Nathaniel Ward
6. Toleration: Cecil Calvert and William Penn
7. Representation: James Otis Junior
8. The Common Law: William Blackstone
9. Penman of the Revolution: John Dickinson
10. Revolution: John Adams
11. Independence: Thomas Jefferson
12. Constitution: John Rutledge
13. Bill of Rights: Roger Sherman and James Madison
14. Nationhood: Alexander Hamilton
15. Consolidation: John Marshall
16. Slavery Abolished: Abraham Lincoln
17. The World Stage: Woodrow Wilson
18. Legal Dynamism: Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior and Louis Brandeis
19. Social Intervention: Earl Warren
20. The President Under the Law: Archibald Cox and Richard Nixon
21. The Glass Ceiling: Sandra O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
22. Epilogue: Barack Obama