From the perspective of young lawyers in three key New Deal agencies, this book traces the path of crucial constitutional test cases during the years from 1933 to 1937.
Awards and Recognition
- Winner of the J. Willard Hurst Award, Law and Society Association
Peter H. Irons is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. His books include Justice at War: The Inside Story of the Japanese American Internment (Oxford) and The Courage of Their Convictions: Sixteen Americans Who Fought Their Way to the Supreme Court (Free Press/Viking Penguin).
"May well be the definitive study of the legal strategies of NRA, AAA, and NLRB officials, and it makes solid contributions to our understanding of the wider subject of the New Deal itself. Little more could be asked."—Rev. Thomas E. Blantz, C.S.C., The Review of Politics
"[Irons's] net is wide and his vision panoramic as he weaves archival material and personal interviews into an impressive and exciting tapestry. Moreover, he brings one lawyerlike skill to the task—an ability to compress a tangled set of facts and complex legal ideas into a terse and lucid précis that adds immeasurably to the pace and clarity of his narrative."—Gerald T. Dunne, American Historical Review
"Sympathetically, vividly, and enthusiastically portrays the role of the lawyers involved in the early days of three important New Deal agencies."—Joseph L. Rauh, Jr., Harvard Law Review
