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Informative but needed better proofreading

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After reading "Counstitutional Journal", I found Carol Berkin's approach to be well-detailed in some respects, but lacking in (just a very few) others.

Sentences that were too wordy or that suffer from poor grammatical construction, such as the first sentence, last paragraph on page 154 (hardcover edition) throw the reader off the pace of the narrative.

I though the chapter on the delegates was well crafted, but in addition to the Constitution, it would have been a nice touch to include the Bill of Rights in the book as well. The Epilogue is a fitting summation to this book.

All in all, a good book, on an absorbing subject.

A Brilliant Account!

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An engaging, enjoyable account of the workings of our "Founding Fathers" as they strive to write our Constitution. An interesting look at the personalities, compromises, maneuvering, and outcomes of this process. After reading this book, I know more about the Constitution and our government that I ever knew before. Any Social Studies teacher who misses this one is really missing out.

Interesting, though lacking a bit

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The most interesting parts of this book are the personal descriptions of the men who drafted the Constitution and the comments on the mood of the country at the time. The author makes an interesting observation: The American Revolution was not one revolution; rather, it was 13 revolutions, one for each of the colonies. However, post-1776 it became clear that a stronger form of Federal government was required. This book does a good job describing the varying opinions of state vs. federal responsibilities, as viewed by the founding fathers.

It's a relatively short book, though some of the descriptions drag a bit. And I would have liked to see a description of how the Bill of Rights came to be. Perhaps that was not part of the original Constitution, but it was added shortly thereafter and seems to be an integral part of this important document.

A Reflection of the Past

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In light of current events that occurred after the turn of the century, the presidential election of 2000 and the US Pentagon and World Trade Center disaster, Carol Berkin laments on those events as well as her life as a historian, and responds by reflecting on the historical past with her book, A BRILLIANT SOLUTION: INVENTING THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION. She revisits the US Constitution with the present in mind, but reflects on the past with a critical eye. For example, Berkin asks one of the most frequently asked questions to arise in recent times, what would the Founding Fathers do?

Berkin succinctly provides answers with her examination of the Founding Fathers and state delegates who helped comprise and create of one of the most significant documents in American history. The book is not meant to be a comprehensive examination, but a concise narrative that describes the inception of the Constitution, which began with the Articles of Confederation, and includes a vicissitude of discussion, which reveals the impassioned activity and skepticism that occurred in the writing of the document that even the Founders did not think would succeed. With her dramatic discussion surrounding the events of the writing of the Constitution, Berkin contains a character sketch of the key framers that intimately describes their intellect as well as their quirks and eccentricities. From personal squabbles to triumphant cooperation, it is amazing that everyone came out of the experience alive.

The biographical sketches after her discussion spotlights each delegate and their unique personal qualities. Most of the delegates attained their education through prominent universities at home and abroad, and came from distinguishable families. But for those who did not, they came from modest upbringings and backgrounds, which ran the gamut of artisans, agrarians, and merchants. Upon reading through each synopsis, several of the names rear close to home in terms of Virginia history, from the famous George Washington to the eminent George Wythe; as a teacher at the College of William and Mary, Wythe "trained Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Marshall in the law" (248).

A BRILLIANT SOLUTION reads like an essay with its compact and reader friendly format. For the casual history reader, the book is a welcome introduction to the US Constitution and those who helped construct the foundations of American society, which included the rights for individuals as interpreted through governmental laws. Overall, this book stresses the importance of understanding the present through a historical perspective.

Not recommended

Customer Rating:
Decent book as a popular history but for anyone who wishes to go further...Berkin cites absolutely no sources in the text! She could be making this stuff up for all we know. There is a 3 page "Note on Sources" towards the end of the book but it is just a short bibliography, not a list of citations. Not recommended.