The Great Decision: Jefferson, Adams, Marshall and the Battle for the Supreme Court

It is fascinating to learn more about the country's leading characters in the early days of this republic. An interesting story, well told, which expanded my understanding of this country, and its history.

This seemed like an "abridged" reading. Chapters were short and leaving me hungry for more information. I also felt the book lacked direction. It took a long time to even get to the Great Decision. I couldn't tell if this was a book about the early Founding Fathers, the debate between Republicans & Federalists, the Court's history or a biography of Marshal. It probably should have been all of the above in a longer book. It is also frustrating when statements are mentioned, both correctly and incorrectly, in different chapters. For example: Marshal was referred to as both the 3rd and 4th Chief Justice & The number of ballots needed in the Jefferson/Burr decision was referred to as both 35 and 36.
Narration was a bit slow, but very clear enjoyable listen.
All in all, I enjoyed the book. A great part of judicial history that has not been given enough attention. Characters were well researched. I like any book that I walk away from learning something.

Recommended as a fascinating judgement, backed by a well rounded examination of the historical background

Not applicable

The narration was clear, expressive and sonorous.

It was cool to realise the clever twist that Marshal CJ made at the end of the judgement

The audio book ended poorly, because the Appendix, where the judgement was narrated in full in the original production, was obviously truncated part of the way through in this Audible production. Poor form Audible!

John Marshall is widely viewed as the man who established judicial review in the United States. This is an engaging account of the circumstances and politics surrounding Marbury v Madison. Judicial review and the independence of the judiciary are fundamental to the American system; here are the details of how that came to be.

Chief Justice Marshall had a clear grasp of the issues and understood that only a strong supreme court could defend American democracy. We can all be thankful that this strong leader was able to bring the court up to equality with the other two branches of government.

For any American History buff, it is a must, A superb description of Marbury v Madison, the issues surrounding the same, and the personages involved. John Marshall towers in early American history, and I hardly knew him at at all. Long enough to learn something from, but short enough not to bog down, Well read. Get it.

This book truly fills a gap in most histories of the early republic. Most people are vaguely aware of "Marbury vs. Madison" (though I am surprised how many don't know who either of the litigants were, even the famous James Madison). Most people's knowledge ends with that it was the first time the Supreme Court struck down a law as "Unconstitutional." This book does an outstanding job of setting the stage for WHY this was such an important case. Also, some of the intricacies of it, such as that John Marshall was the Secretary of State during the end of the Adams administration who prepared the commissions that were never sent to Marbury (as well as 2 others). It goes into the politics of the time and just how anemic the Supreme Court actually was.

It also, of course, described the decision and the part that made it most remarkable was that the court managed to assert its authority in the least threatening way possible. It said a law was unconstitutional which could be seen as an affront to the legislative and executive branches, however they did it in sch a way that LIMITED their own authority. In effect, intentionally losing the battle (we do not have authority to issue a ruling on a law that is unconstitutional) to win the war (we HAVE the authority to decide whether it is constitutional or not). It was a brilliant balance of judicial restraint, judicial activism, statesmanship, and politics.

To be fair, this author also gives, albeit in very short sections, some of the criticisms of the Marbury decision (like the inclusion of a court hypothetical ruling on a case involving a law that they decided was unconstitutional). They also do point out on several occasions that state courts had declared state laws unconstitutional (however Marbury was the first time the US Supreme Court had done this) so this act was not unprecedented.

FInally, this book finally gives some explanation behind the antipathy between Marshall and Jefferson as well as describing how they were related. Many books I have read have said they were cousins, but didn't describe the "family tree" to explain this. After this book I have a far greater understanding of this and how it affected them both at a visceral level.

My one small caveat with this book is that it does, for some stretches, become tedious, but this is necessary in a story this technical and these stretches were short.

This book definitely qualifies as a 5-star listening/reading experience. It covers ground only lightly trod in any other book I have read/heard. It covers it with fairness and adequate thoroughness.

I had heard of Marbury v Madison mentioned quite frequently and only had a general, vague idea of what the case was about but this book gave me a much better understanding and appreciation for the historical context and complexity of the case. It also gave me a fuller understanding of our Constitution and the formation of the government which it spawned. I thought The Great Decision was a great book and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to gain a greater understanding of our history and Constitution.

The explanation of John Marshal's decision in the case.

I though he did a very good job.

No. There was so much information that I found it better to listen for an hour or so and then have time to digest what I had heard.

Slanted a bit in John Marshall's favor but not overly biased. Gripping story. A good listen

This book is really boooorrrrriiinng. It purports to tell the story of Marbury v Madison, one of the first US Supreme Court decisions.

But, it illuminated political activities during the early period of US history, in long, excrucia

Brevity