The Law of the Land

"In the era of blue states and red states, it is a challenge to develop new theories about the governance of our country. In The Law of the Land, Yale Law School professor Akhil Reed Amar has done just that by examining a range of issues involving the Constitution and the Supreme Court through the lens of geographical differences.... Amar is one of the leading constitutional scholars in the country and an extremely creative thinker. The book is at its best when he explores some of his own elegant constitutionalism to explain the work of justices or insights about the Constitution."

"[Amar's] latest effort, The Law of the Land, reflects both his devotion and his creativity. The essays here are civics lessons, artfully blending the conventional with the controversial. The prose is graceful and livened by an easy sense of humor.... We can all learn from following him on his travels across the continent."

"[The Law of the Land] is profound in its insights about the United States Constitution.... The book is filled with fascinating and important discussions of constitutional issues.... Amar's analysis is consistently original.... Amar has written a fascinating book on constitutional history."

"A tour de force by the best U.S. constitutional law scholar since Justice Joseph Story! Akhil Reed Amar understands and explains American Federalism and the role of the fifty states better and more deeply than anyone else. A fun, insightful, and enjoyable tour through the landscape of Constitutional Federalism."

"With The Law of the Land, Akhil Reed Amar has again demonstrated why he is America's foremost interpreter and explicator of our Constitution. In The Law of the Land, Amar turns his attention to the way geographical differences have shaped American law in surprising and revealing ways. As always, reading Amar is both a pleasure and an education."

"Akhil Reed Amar writes in clear and entertaining English, with a journalist's eye for drama and detail and a patriot's eye for the sweep of the American experience. Smart general readers interested in constitutional law will be pleased and instructed."

"The connections Amar makes are intriguing.... Sections on how the Supreme Court has evolved in modern times are particularly interesting, as are the potential ramifications of what Amar calls the 'judicialization of the judiciary.'"

"This ambitious treatise shows how landmarks in American constitutional history can be viewed as products of topography.... [Amar] amply proves that the varied American landscape provides an illuminating lens with which to view our legal system's fundamental tenets."

"[Readers] will delight in [Amar's] smooth prose, his frank confessions of bias, his frequently sharp insights and the many sparkling nuggets he scatters throughout, whether about the location of the only national park site named after a Supreme Court case or how Camden, New Jersey, got its name. A provocative, consistently interesting take on our constitutional history.