****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I read this book while also reading a few others, so it need not take months to finish, and as large as it is I found it a pleasure to read and so it was actually easy to get through the material as I devoted the time. There is an immense breadth of material here so expect to wander all over the Constitution - text, history, and structure. My experience as a student and citizen, having attended public school with peers that were always part of the 'advanced' academic program, is that civics teaches nothing like this, and thus this material fills a giant hole in the citizenry's understanding of our founding and most basic laws. It seems obvious that to teach this material requires not just a Con Law professor but a historian as well, and Akhil Amar fills those shoes. Yes, the author can be ponderous while being insightful. The insights, however, are brilliant and often unique, and a deep respect for the law and democracy are evident everywhere. One of the great benefits of reading the books of Professor Amar is the elimination of all the ums and ahs and repetition in his podcast episodes, so those that might find his vocal idiosyncrasies too annoying can rejoice in the alternative, which is well edited and entirely worthwhile.
