Customer Reviews

Civil Peace and the Quest for Truth: The First Amendment Freedoms in Political Philosophy and American Constitutionalism (Applications of Political Theory)

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Prof. Dry provides a deep and clear account of the thought of the eminent political and legal thinkers before, during and after the Founding.

Most books and classes on the First Amendment discuss only the last part of the relevant history, the Supreme Court cases of the 20th century. Neglected are the political ideas and disputes of religious leaders such as Winthrop, Penn, and Williams, the debates among of the Founders and the Framers, and the evolution of rights in the state constitutions. Prof. Dry gives an erudite discussion of First Amendment jurisprudence, but only after laying out the philosophical and theological foundation for that jurisprudence.

Few scholars are as able today as Prof. Dry to succeed in such a task. A student of Herbert Storing, the remarkable commentator on and editor of the Anti-Federalist writings, Prof. Dry has contemplated and taught the American Founding and Constitutional Law for three decades.

Both students and scholars will find this work full of illuminating and rare insight.