Irons, a renowned legal scholar and emeritus professor at the University of California at San Diego, has written an enlightening account of the human spirit and an inspiring study of the great ideals implicit in the US Constitution and system of government. A great many people know what major Supreme Court decisions stand for, but very few people, including those well schooled in the law, know much about the persons beneath the law's mask. This book provides a series of gripping case studies that present these people, who they were, what motivated them, how their cases arose, and how they were personally affected by landmark decisions that bear their names. Reminiscent of Anthony Lewis's classic Gideon's Trumpet (1964), Irons's study tells the story of how ordinary men and women, and at times children, stood fast, insisted on their rights, and after interminable struggle prevailed. It reminds the reader once again of the importance of the "quintessential American document," the Constitution. But it also reminds one of the great discipline and self-sacrifice that have to be expended if the ideals of that document are to be realized. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. M. M. Feeley University of California, Berkeley