Ratification

Starred review from August 23, 2010
This book about one of the most momentous occasions in the nation's history is the definitive one. Maier, a distinguished MIT historian of the Revolutionary era, relates with more authority and in more detail than ever before the long, uncertain course from the Constitution's adoption by the Constitutional Convention in 1787 until its ratification by the states in 1788 and of the Bill of Rights soon after. While not lacking drama, it's mostly a state-by-state look at the give-and-take of political and constitutional debate. While the nation's early greats—Washington, Madison, Patrick Henry—get their due, many lesser-known figures, often simple men who shone for this moment alone, play their parts. Maier shows how the Constitution's supporters and defenders won through ratification and why in the end even most of its detractors, in the words of one, concluded that this was "the best government in the world." For those who seek judicious assessment, sober reflection, and masterful analysis of the debates that secured the Constitution, this book is an unsurpassable achievement. 16 pages of b&w illus.