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A review by the_library_of_larry
The Framers' Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution by Michael J. Klarman
informative
slow-paced
3.5
Michael Klarman has written what must surely be close to an exhaustive volume on the failure of the Articles of Confederation and the making of the Constitution, as well as the political machinations needed to make the Constitution law across the states.
While I will always appreciate an author going deep into the research weeds to provide non-fiction and history readers with accurate info, I can't help but feel that there should be a book that covers the exact topics here in the Framer's Coup, but does it in half the time. I listened to the Audible audiobook version of this book. It clocked in at 33 hours, one of the longest audiobooks I have in my library. At 1.90 speed, it totaled to over 16 hours of listening time.
The problem with such minute details as private correspondences between founding fathers, the records of debates before, during, and after the Philadelphia convention, the political leanings of individuals and states, the economic considerations of federalization, and so many other topics, is that the reader starts to lose the forest for the trees (or perhaps, the author has). I can barely remember a single thing that was said in this book because I was so fried by detail that things started to mush together. I am fortunate that I was able to retain general concepts and answers to the questions I had that caused me to start this book.
If you want answers, they are here, but buried among mountains of background information and political infighting. It's genuinely a shame, because Klarman is obviously passionate about this topic. I don't deny that such an important topic as the writing of the Constitution does not deserve an impressive volume that covers it. But for someone who isn't actually a professor of constitutional history, or is a lawyer in constitutional law, this book is likely not for you. It's too detailed, and unless you have a particularly overriding interest in 1780s American politics/economics/society, the fascinating events of the formation of the Constitution will be lost to you among the detail.
A slight recommend for me ONLY IF you really, really are interested in this topic, so much so that it's your job to know about con law. Or if you're just that much a nerd about constitutional history.
While I will always appreciate an author going deep into the research weeds to provide non-fiction and history readers with accurate info, I can't help but feel that there should be a book that covers the exact topics here in the Framer's Coup, but does it in half the time. I listened to the Audible audiobook version of this book. It clocked in at 33 hours, one of the longest audiobooks I have in my library. At 1.90 speed, it totaled to over 16 hours of listening time.
The problem with such minute details as private correspondences between founding fathers, the records of debates before, during, and after the Philadelphia convention, the political leanings of individuals and states, the economic considerations of federalization, and so many other topics, is that the reader starts to lose the forest for the trees (or perhaps, the author has). I can barely remember a single thing that was said in this book because I was so fried by detail that things started to mush together. I am fortunate that I was able to retain general concepts and answers to the questions I had that caused me to start this book.
If you want answers, they are here, but buried among mountains of background information and political infighting. It's genuinely a shame, because Klarman is obviously passionate about this topic. I don't deny that such an important topic as the writing of the Constitution does not deserve an impressive volume that covers it. But for someone who isn't actually a professor of constitutional history, or is a lawyer in constitutional law, this book is likely not for you. It's too detailed, and unless you have a particularly overriding interest in 1780s American politics/economics/society, the fascinating events of the formation of the Constitution will be lost to you among the detail.
A slight recommend for me ONLY IF you really, really are interested in this topic, so much so that it's your job to know about con law. Or if you're just that much a nerd about constitutional history.