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Reviews/Comments
"This is a hair-raising book. It
shows how, at stage after stage, the fight to draft and ratify the
Constitution, to draft and pass the Bill of Rights, could have failed.
It proves again that the tiny
Madison was a giant."
—Garry
Wills, Professor of
History Emeritus, Northwestern University
"Madison's intellect, the most acute among the Founders, is widely recognized. His political grit is much less so. The toughness of this canny man gets due recognition in Richard Labunski's riveting account of the hard-fought and narrowly won battle for the underpinnings of Americans' liberties." — George F. Will, syndicated columnist and author
New York Review of Books (Nov. 30, 2006) — "With Labunski's book we now have a very readable and reliable narrative of how Madison gave birth to the Bill of Rights." — Gordon Wood, Professor of History, Brown University. (The 4,200-word review can be purchased here).
Esquire magazine (Dec. 2006) called it the "Big Important Book of the Year" and said "Labunski's book is valuable in describing in close detail that which we today seem to hell-bent on tossing idly away." See the complete review here.
A letter from U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens (Dec. 8, 2006) — "Not only did I receive [the book], but I have read it and, thanks to your careful research, learned a great deal about [Madison's] participation in the ratification process as well as his election to Congress from a gerrymandered district. Many thanks for sending it to me."
Louisville Courier-Journal (Nov. 11, 2006) — "Labunski has provided a real service with his readable [book]...This is narrative history, and it couldn't be more timely." — David Hawpe, C-J editorial director. See the complete review here.
Washington Post (July 3, 2006) — "A good book about how the Bill of Rights came to be and perhaps what those first ten amendments to the Constitution may mean in this age of terrorism. This is the sort of book that ends up being cited by politicians on one side of the argument or the other so if you want to be ahead of that game, read it yourself." — Andrew Cohen
New York Times Book Review (July 16, 2006) — "In trying to bring an uncooperative subject to life, Richard Labunski has wisely focused on the two years, from 1787 to 1789, during which Madison played a crucial role in shepherding the United States Constitution into existence...A virtue of Labunski's account is the generous attention he gives to Anti-Federalist luminaries like [Patrick] Henry, George Mason and Richard Henry Lee — figures too often overlooked in our reverential regard for the founding...Labunski's presentation of these events is solid and well-researched." See the complete review here.
CBS News Web site (Oct. 24, 2006) — "...Which brings me to the best book of them all [of the four reviewed] and the only one worth remembering and that is Labunski's...fine and timely book about James Madison." Andrew Cohen, CBS News legal analyst
The Atlantic Monthly magazine recommended the book in its July/August issue: "Watch the wig powder fly as James Madison and Patrick Henry slug it out over the constitutional freedoms we take for granted today."
Library
Journal (June 15, 2006)
—
"James Madison played an important role
in both the development of the U.S. Constitution and the creation of its
first ten amendments, i.e., the Bill of Rights. Relying on primary sources,
Labunski...carefully and lucidly examines how Madison and his political
supporters and opponents (mostly Anti-Federalists) shaped the initial
parameters of the Constitution and then further expressed their
constitutional philosophies in the amendments that followed...A highly
recommended analysis that will be useful for public and academic libraries."
See the complete review
here.
Stars
refer to books of outstanding quality, significance, and/or popular appeal.
Booklist (July 6, 2006) -- "Labunski manages affairs so well as to warrant attention from buffs of the early republic. The book quotes substantially from Federalists and anti-Federalists at the rostrum, but as nascent democracy required the cerebral James Madison to campaign for votes, much of Labunski’s narrative takes place outside, too...A work interesting within its ambit, and capably carried off by Labunski." See the complete review here.
Publisher's Weekly (May 8, 2006) — "This engaging study views the Bill of Rights as the crowning achievement of America's constitutional architect. Journalism professor Labunski...recounts Madison's exploits in the critical period from 1787 to 1789, as he battled anti-Federalist Patrick Henry to secure Virginia's ratification of the new Constitution, won a hard-fought election to the House of Representatives and shepherded the Bill of Rights through the fledgling Congress...[T]he author makes it an interesting story, full of sonorous oratory and colorful details of 18th-century politicking. The result is a lively look at the rickety early republic and Madison's great balancing act." See the complete review here.
Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader (August 13, 2006) — "Labunski tells this story well...revealing fresh and new insights. He has a good sense of the drama and the human side of the past, stressing, for example, Madison's health, the poor state of roads, and the power of oratory as factors in decision-making...This is a readable, well-argued book that gives the reader a feel for the times and the people. More than that, though, it reminds us how fortunate the nation was to have leaders like Madison, and how every vote and every voice still remains important." See the complete review here.
Indianapolis Star (August 19, 2006) — "Madison toiled relentlessly and succeeded in leading the ultimate passage of the Bill of Rights by the states in 1791. With the Constitution, this established a central government that walked a never-before attempted fine political line -- possessing the power to operate effectively and protecting the rights of individual citizens...Labunski...gives Madison full credit for winning the nation's first big political fight: '...no other person in the nation's history did so much for which he is appreciated so little.'" See the complete review here.
Washington (D.C.) Times (September 24, 2006) — "Author Richard Labunski, a University of Kentucky journalism professor, has gathered valuable original correspondence between the major players and taken us away from the museum piece view of the Philadelphia constitutional convention of 1787 to where the real conflict occurred -- in the fractious state ratifying conventions that followed in the year after the document was handed around for ratification or rejection...Mr. Labunski writes an accessible story that whets our appetite for a fuller perspective on this small, shy but crucially important figure." See the complete review here.
"Labunski's skillfully researched and
highly readable historical narrative dramatizes the critical events
surrounding the ratification of the Constitution and the subsequent adoption
of the Bill of Rights. With intricate detail and historical precision,
he shows that Madison was the indispensable man, the person most responsible
for the nation's political survival, as crucial as George Washington had
been to its independence. A truly outstanding book and a must read."
—Philip
Bigler, Director, The James
Madison
Center, James Madison
University
"Labunski's account of James Madison's
pivotal role in drafting the new federal constitution and the ratification
of the Bill of Rights is an important addition to Oxford University Press's
Pivotal Moments in American History series. Beautifully written, the book
effectively recounts the drama of a critical moment in American history, one
that is often not fully understood by most Americans. Scholars and general
readers alike will enjoy Labunski's well-crafted narrative. I have no doubt
that his fresh interpretation of the ratification saga will influence the
thinking of future scholars of the period."
—Charles
F. Bryan, Jr., President and CEO, Virginia Historical Society
"Richard Labunski provides a clear,
dramatic, and accessible account of the long and tortuous process by which
the U.S. Constitution was framed, ratified, and amended to provide the
essential protections of individual freedom that Americans enjoy today.
Written with verve and charm, Labunski brings arguments over the
inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation and the debates over the
Constitution in the Virginia Ratifying Convention to life through vivid
descriptions of the passions and idiosyncrasies of the Founding generation."
—David
B. Mattern, Senior Associate Editor, James Madison Papers, University of
Virginia