The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

I had wanted to read "The Nine" since it was published in 07. My frugality got in the way. The online price hovered too far above my target price point. However, when I did purchase the book on Amazon a couple of months ago, its price reflected the underlying theme Toobin hammered home - liberalism was dead. Toobin's brilliant, if slightly partisan tome, traced the decline & fall of the liberal court, as the conservative movement within the Republican Party triumphed by ushering onto the court its most conservative ideologues in a generation. The only reason I was able to buy this book for less than a buck is that so few care about this slide, a precipitous drop really, into the realm of right winged politik. The Court, as the country, had moved far from the judicial sensitivity of the Warren Court. As Toobin so eloquently concludes: " ...the Court is a product of a democracy and represents, with sometimes chilling precision, the best and worst of the people. We can expect nothing more, and nothing less, than the Court we deserve."

This was a good source to learn about the intricacies of the supreme court. I would have preferred an unbiased approach, leans hard left, which forces the book to lose some credibility. Overall, still an enjoyable read.

Gives a great insight into the contemporary court's major fixations and players. Things like the history of Roe v Wade and President Clinton's struggle to find a legal-outsider to the court are very educational and entertaining. Worth a read for anyone interested in current affairs.