Customer Reviews

Constitutional Law in a Nutshell (4th Ed) (Nutshell Series)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I used this book as a supplement in a Constitutional Law course while in law school. I found that it set forth, in very plain terms, what were relatively complex issues to get a hold of. This book helped me get an 'A' in that course and made the lectures more meaningful by giving me an additional layer of context in which to put the class discussions. I highly recommend this book for any law school student.

The Nutshell Series is great for law students who want a refresher in the days before a final. The Con Law book is no exception. These books sum up all of the main points in an easy read that's broken out by subject so you can easily skip sections you didn't cover in class. However, unlike others in the series, I feel this one actually provides a pretty clear picture of Con Law even if you haven't taken the course yet. Usually I recommend you wait until the end of the semester to plow through these in a day or two, but this one may be worth buying before class starts to give you an understanding of the topic from the get-go.

This book was extremely useful to me, because it boiled down complicated areas of law, such as justiciability, the commerce clause, and state action. It helped me to get a high grade in Con Law. Even though I am done with the class, I am still using the book as a reference for seminar papers that I am writing. I recommend it.

I bought this book because it was a requirement in my Con Law class. However, I quickly found out that this isn't a book to use in order to actually learn Con Law. First, I just didn't find the book readable. I became lost in the cases and couldn't see the point the authors were trying to make. Secondly, although the book includes each major topic and the relevant important cases(s), the explanations on how this relates to the black letter of the law were difficult to understand. I agree with a prior reviewer that Chemerinsky's book is superior in this regard. So, if you are lost in the subject and want a guide to quickly bring you up to speed, this book will not help. However, if you've kept up in class or already have a basic grasp of the subject, this book is a decent quick review to refresh your memory (i.e., "I remember that now" - type of thing). I found this book much more useful after reading Chemerinsky first.

Although the Constitutional Law in a Nutshell is helpful, I got a lot more out of the Constitutional Analysis in a Nutshell book when preparing for my Con Law final. For those on a tight budget who don't want to spring for both books, I'd say spend your money on Constitutional Analysis, rather than this one. Use the case book and the analysis book for best results.

I was pretty disappointed with this book... The book was not edited... The book was plagued with textual errors and poor structure... the explanations weren't helpful...

I'm a procrastinor myself, but seriously... just do the work and read Chemerinsky... he knows what he's talking about and knows how to explain it effectly...

Ok, so I'm a little biased since professor Barron was my con law prof., but this book is great. It's a nutshell, so don't expect a whole lot of depth, but it does a great job of boiling down the basic holdings of cases and tying them together with a narrative. It was almost as handy as my outline during the exam.

Good reference for the bottom line in most of the cases you will review in class. Handy overview, but there is no way you can retain all of this information in summarized form.

The book is useful, but it's too small. I didn't see a size listed. This book is only 7"by 5". It makes the exhibits nearly impossible to read without a magnifying glass.

I heard this book was good, unfortunately it has been about three months since I ordered it from this place and I still have not been sent my order. If you want to get this book in time for finals, I would suggest thinking twice before ordering it here.