THE SUPREME COURT

The same simplicity and timeliness found in The Presidency (183 J-61) characterizes Gerald Johnson's further attempt to make the complicated machinery of government intelligible and alive for young readers. A visit to the Supreme Court building with its awesome decor is the springboard for a clear and logical explanation of how the court functions, and how its power developed and was tested over the years. A significant discussion of the Marshall and Taney decisions demonstrates how power without force became effective. The trends from 1865 to 1900 favoring business expansion -- from 1903 to World War I indicating the influence of such dissenters as Holmes and Brandeis -- from 1929 to 1936 -- testing the legality of the New Deal and the recent integration decision highlight the interplay of constitutional law and dynamic history.