Customer Reviews

The Antagonists: Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter and Civil Liberties in Modern America

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Here, James Simon presents a concise (260 pages) treatment of the relationship between Hugo Black and Felix Frankfurter. These two justices were the greatest of their age, they defined the debate over constitutional law and most scholars were lined up behind one or the other justice. Both were placed on the Court by FDR in the late 1930s and they dealt with the change from the older property/federalism focus of the Court to the individual rights era. Simon begins with brief biographical sketches of each justice and than he examines a variety of cases over their 25 years of service together to show their different approaches to civil liberties.

This is a good book but not a great one. It is best for a new comer to the Court's history. Simon provides a good overview without getting bogged down in points of dispute or too much analytical analysis of individual cases that would easily confuse those without backround in the subject. The book is an easy read and will illuminate the Court's postwar history without confusing the unfamiliar reader. Those familiar with the subject will find little new in this book, but, even so, the anecdotes are entertaining and provide a different perspective to familiar cases.