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The Making of a Justice

Written by: John Paul Stevens
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff, John Paul Stevens
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Publisher's Summary

A masterful and personal account of life on the Supreme Court that offers a unique understanding of American history from one of the most prominent jurists of our time

When Justice John Paul Stevens retired from the Supreme Court of the United States in 2010, he left a legacy of service unequaled in the history of the Court. During his 34-year tenure, Justice Stevens was a prolific writer, authoring in total more than 1,000 opinions. In The Making of a Justice, John Paul Stevens recounts the first 94 years of his extraordinary life, offering an intimate and illuminating account of his service on the nation's highest court.

Appointed by President Gerald Ford and eventually retiring during President Obama's first term, Justice Stevens has been witness to, and an integral part of, landmark changes in American society.

With stories of growing up in Chicago, his work as a naval traffic analyst at Pearl Harbor during World War II, and his early days in private practice, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most important Supreme Court decisions over the last four decades, The Making of a Justice offers a warm and fascinating account of Justice Stevens' unique and transformative American life.

This comprehensive memoir is a must-listen for those trying to better understand our country and the Constitution.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 John Paul Stevens (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"The retired Supreme Court justice chronicles his impressive life story, including his 34-year tenure with the court...The author's consistently absorbing commentary on a wide variety of legal cases will require close attention by readers, but the payoff is worth it." (Kirkus)

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A historically important book, with gaps unfilled

To get the obvious out of the way, Making of a Justice is an important book, when one looks at it from a history perspective, because this is a source first hand thoughts and opinions (of which there are quite a few) of one of the most important people to serve on the nation's highest court.

When one looks at the title however, they naturally end up expecting a lot more from the book than they get. The book is largely a chrnology of his years, and in my humble opinion, misses out by a mile on the emotional quotient. For example, when he is nominated to the 7th Cir. or even to the Supreme Court, the lives of those around him change as much as his does- but there is no mention of any of that; there is very limited mention of his daughters and so on.

The second part of the book is a term by term discussion of cases that he considered important, and that is great, but again, barring a few instances, it lacks the personal touch, thereby giving "Reflections on my first 94 Years", a miss. By virtue of that subtitle, it should also have included his experience of writing Five Chiefs, his first memoir that focussed on the five Chiefs he knew in his time, and the more controversial, Six Amendments, etc., which it did not.

Despite all that, this is a book any law geek would like to have in their collection.

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