this book is paired with Menand’s The Free world, and in some ways is less well written. for example, I don’t think we need the extraordinary amount of space given to an explanation of statistical calculation. There are times when I believe that other lines of explanation could be shortened – but none of this should keep potential readers from a work that is so good at explaining the past seen through philosophy, legal reasoning, and the personal experience of the major characters in the book. so it deserves five stars, despite its flaws.