The Least Dangerous Branch

This classic book on the role of the Supreme court in our democracy traces the history of the Court, assessing the merits of various decisions along the way. Eminent law professor Alexander Bickel begins with Marbury vs. Madison, which he says gives gives shaky support to judicial review, and concludes with the school desegregation cases of 1954, which he uses to show the extent and limits of the Court's power. In this way he accomplishes his stated purpose: 'to have the Supreme Court's exercise of judicial review better understood and supported and more sagaciously used.'