Explicit and Authentic Acts: Amending the U.S. Constitution, 1776-1995

Rating:
Summary: Definitive Study of Attempts to Change the Constitution
Review: David Kyvig's book "Explicit and Authentics Acts" covers the formal attempts to change the U.S. Constitution. It is packed with information from every era from the Articles of Confederation to the 1990's. Kyvig demonstrates how a national consensus must emerge before Constitutional change can become a reality and that changes which are not codified in the Constitution are rarely lasting. This is a work of stunning research and erudition. Although there are no deep or brilliant insights to be found here, the depth and scope and the judicious nature of the scholarship make this a must read for anyone who considers himself to be well informed on Constitutional history.

Rating:
Summary: Definitive Study of Attempts to Change the Constitution
Review: This great book and Great Expectations: The U.S. 1945-1974, by James T. Patterson, were the co-winners of the 1997 Bancroft History Prize. I found everything in this book good reading and I learned a lot I did not know about the 27 amendments to the US Constitution. Congress has proposed 33 amendmants to the Constitution, and 27 have been accepted by the requisite number of states and so were added to the Constitution. The research done to write this book is awesome. I found this book a much better book than the co-winner of the Bancroft Prize merely because this book told me so much more than I knew before I read it.

Rating:
Summary: Deservedly a prize winner!
Review: This great book and Great Expectations: The U.S. 1945-1974, by James T. Patterson, were the co-winners of the 1997 Bancroft History Prize. I found everything in this book good reading and I learned a lot I did not know about the 27 amendments to the US Constitution. Congress has proposed 33 amendmants to the Constitution, and 27 have been accepted by the requisite number of states and so were added to the Constitution. The research done to write this book is awesome. I found this book a much better book than the co-winner of the Bancroft Prize merely because this book told me so much more than I knew before I read it.