Customer Reviews

The Bill of Rights: The First Ten Amendments of the Constitution

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How disappointing it is to finish a relatively good piece of work only to be left with a rather bad taste in your mouth. Such is the case with this work by David L Hudson, Jr. Hudson does a good job of assimilating a basic guide for the novice of the American Bill of Rights, but seemed unable to abstain from injecting personal bias.
With a subject so dear and precious to Americans, political bias must be strictly avoided at all costs, and to the novice, Hudson quite cleverly masks that bias. However, deeper reflection reveals injected tidbits of liberal dogma. Hudson even goes so far as to cite the well known liberal revisionist historian, Howard Zinn as a reference source. Such inflection quickly discredits an otherwise credible work.

For the student and novice, there is some good information here, but read with caution. The shameful part is, 99% of this book is very well done and successfully reflects both sides of the issue. All in all, this is a fine work and valuable to every American, especially the student.

The first half of the book gives a brief analysis of each Amendment, their history, a brief synopsis on James Madison and simplified chapter on Amending the Constitution. The last half of the book examines each Amendment with popular legal cases rooted in each. The book concludes with the U.S. Constitution printed in its entirety.

For a novice seeking a basic knowledge of the Bill of Rights, this book would suit nicely, but if you are looking for indepth analysis, there are other books available that would be a much better source, such as The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction by Akhil Reed Amar, or Origins of the Bill of Rights by Leonard Williams Levy.

As a Constitutional attorney, I can say without reservation that David L. Hudson's book The Bill of Rights: The First Ten Amendments of the Constitution is a must read for school children and adults alike. In an era when fundamental Constitutional rights are daily called into jeopardy from all sides, citizens need to know about the provisions that protect these basic rights. If students are to grow into the next generation of leaders, politicians and voters, then they must receive some grounding in the basic elements of how their government is designed and how democracy is supposed to work. Mr. Hudson's work provides insight into one of the most crucial building blocks in American Democracy, the Bill of Rights.

While these books are designed for students from the 6th grade up, I would recommend adults read this primer on the Bill of Rights. Beginning with an examination of where these amendments came from, Mr. Hudson shifts to provide examples of why these amendments are still vital in modern life. In any event, classrooms and libraries alike would do well to have copies of this work as a reference. Mr. Hudson's book would also provide a valuable augment to social studies, history, and government curriculums. By providing legal, historical, and even biographical information, this work grounds students in the broader context of the Bill of Rights, both then and now.

This chapter book does a good job of explaining all of the ten Bill of Rights in detail. The book starts with the first amendment and goes through all ten amendments. The development and value of each amendment is explained thoroughly. This book would be a good one to use when a teacher is introducing a theme cycle about the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. A them cycle about the Bill of Rights would have many different activities to choose from when assigning work to the students. Using a theme cycle with this book would allow the students to explore and read various genres of text that discusses the amendments.

Mr. Hudson has done an excellent job of explaining the meaning of each amendment in the Bill of Rights. He brings to life the importance of the Bill of Rights with timely and insightful examples of how they apply to the lives of all Americans. In addition, Mr. Hudson has provided a background and context for the development of the Bill of Rights that I found very informative. I believe Mr. Hudson's book is a rich source of information for readers of all ages. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in individual liberties.

It is not often that I can pick up a text book and not want to put it down. Mr. Hudson has done an excellent job of detailing the events leading up to the adoption of the Bill of Rights. He goes on to explain why each one of the first ten Amendments to the Constitution was created by our fore fathers and why all ten are still crucial to our political structure today. This book is excellent for anyone looking for an easy to read but informative basic review of the Bill of Rights. When I finished reading this book, I felt proud to live in a country that is governed by such a wonderful document (The Consitution and its Amendments) and grateful to David Hudson for sharing his obvious appreciation and enthusiasm for these important documents.