In Defense of Liberty: The Story of America’s Bill of Rights (Orbis Pictus Honor for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children (Awards))
In Defense of Liberty: The Story of America’s Bill of Rights (Orbis Pictus Honor for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children (Awards)) Customer Review: A Remarkable Explanation of the Amendments
In Defense of Liberty is a book I began reading with almost no expectation that it would be interesting. I thought it would be filled with thousands of blatant facts, ones that would be hard to understand and even harder to remember. I was wrong. The book was introduced with a dramatic narrative, followed by the true story behind the Bill of Rights. With case examples behind every amendment, the struggle to understand was not a hard one. Although many facts were introduced, this was not done in an overwhelming manner, and most were directly related to the case being described.
My personal favorite part of this book was when a case involving two young Jehovah Witnesses was used to show the development of freedom of religion. The simple act of not saluting the American flag was tried and often punished. Throughout the book the progress made as a result of the amendments was described, in a way similar to a timeline. My least favorite part occurred when James Madisons’ most valuable amendment that was not added to the Bill of Rights was cross examined. Although this part was necessary, I thought it could have been done in a more interesting way.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in our nations’ government and history. With whole chapters on each amendment, as well as how they came about, this book gives a full explanation of the Bill of Rights. I feel this book probably has the answers to many commonly sought after questions concerning our nation and its government. I think that everyone interested in Americas’ laws and policies should read In Defense of Liberty, it is a book that should not go unnoticed.
Customer Review: Too biased on 2nd & 10th Amendments
I am using this book for my 6th grader in our study of the Bill of Rights. The coverage of the 1st Amendment I thought was pretty good, with a good history of judicial decisions. However, when I got to the 2nd Amendment, I found it to be pure anti-gun propoganda with no appreciation or knowledge of the founders’ purpose for putting it there. I found some good material for kids on the 2nd Amendment on the NRA web site.
The coverage of the rest of the Amendments is pretty good, except the 10th. Here again we see an anti-federalism interpretation which disturbs me. The authors write as if it is a mystery what we should delegate to the states. Then ch. 13 is entitled, “Madison’s most valuable amendment,” the one that didn’t get included. Well, this is what Madison argued, but obviously the others in Congress didn’t agree for federalist reasons. If you are going to use this book, find other sources on the 2nd and 10th.
Tags: Cheap non fiction books, non fiction books, non fiction book, Nonfiction book
