[Mr. Paul] has crafted a scholarly but highly readable and often entertaining chronicle that embeds Marshall among the leading lights of the nation’s founding generation, humanizing him along the way … The work of the Marshall court appropriately forms the core of Mr. Paul’s book. His elucidation of its decisions—over 1,100, more than half of them written by Marshall—is refreshingly crisp and unhobbled by jargon … Marshall is justly celebrated as the most far-sighted justice ever to lead the Supreme Court. His lasting achievements are ably served by Mr. Paul’s deeply felt and penetrating biography.
[Paul] brings to Marshall's career exactly the kind of perspective that a legal scholar can best provide – and that's often needed, especially considering the sheer amount of legend that's grown up around Marshall the legal titan … This kind of skepticism is refreshing because it's so rare; Marshall tends to prompt the same kind of hagiography that's lavished on most of the Founding Fathers. And even as tough a biographer as Paul yields to the temptation – unfortunately, on the subject that least deserves it: slavery … The narrative of Without Precedent picks up momentum when relating the turbulent legal and political infighting of the Chief Justice years.
While Paul greatly admires Marshall, he conscientiously provides the evidence on which a more nuanced assessment of Marshall may be made. In particular, it may be suggested that Marshall, while hugely instrumental in assuring for the federal judiciary its limited supervisory role over the legislative branch, exhibited a subservience to the executive branch that continues to haunt us ... As Paul’s fine volume repeatedly notes, Marshall not only empowered the federal judiciary but guided it to safety during some of the most perilous years in our nation’s history.
Joel Richard Paul, a professor of constitutional and international law, compellingly details the path that brought Marshall to the Supreme Court and how he was able to achieve so much while there in the absorbing and aptly titled Without Precedent … Highlights of the book include Paul’s illuminating discussions of major court decisions; Marshall’s devotion to his beloved wife, Polly, who was ill for most of their married lives; Marshall’s long-running differences with his cousin Thomas Jefferson; and his friendship with Jefferson’s ally, James Madison. This engrossing account of a key figure in our early history makes for excellent reading.
Drawing on this intellectual diversity, Paul offers an impressive biography on John Marshall, a politician and judge who became known as the nation's most powerful Supreme Court justice during his run in the 1800s, in Paul's recently released book, Without Precedent ... John Marshall possessed the courage of his imagination, the wisdom to seek common ground and the grace to hold together a fragile union. We desperately need statesmen and judges with those qualities right now.
Much of the story necessarily focuses on abstruse issues in constitutional law, but the author turns this potential narrative problem into a strength by emphasizing the politics and personal stories underlying the court's landmark cases. He cheerfully draws readers into the factual and legal complexities involved, employing an easygoing prose style that neither condescends nor bogs down in legalese. As much as Paul admires Marshall, he doesn't shrink from exposing holes in his reasoning, occasional ethically dodgy procedure, and a sometimes dismayingly amoral approach to the law. A well-informed, perceptive, and absorbing biography of a titan of American history.
...comprehensive and insightful … While clearly a fan of his subject, Paul questions Marshall’s behavior, particularly his approach to slavery before and after he assumed the bench ... Paul has produced an excellent treatment of an unquestionably impressive life.
