Discover new selections
Buy new:
-31% $24.13
FREE delivery Saturday, May 3
Ships from: Woodville Books
Sold by: Woodville Books
$24.13 with 31 percent savings
List Price: $35.00
FREE delivery Saturday, May 3. Details
Or fastest delivery April 30 - May 2. Details
Only 2 left in stock - order soon.
$$24.13 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$24.13
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Woodville Books
Woodville Books
Ships from
Woodville Books
Returns
30-day refund/replacement
30-day refund/replacement
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$19.88
Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc... Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc... See less
$3.98 delivery Monday, May 5. Details
Or fastest delivery Tuesday, April 29. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$24.13 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$24.13
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Ships from and sold by glenthebookseller.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Jonathan Gienapp
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique (Yale Law Library Series in Legal History and Reference) Hardcover – September 3, 2024

by Jonathan Gienapp (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 36 ratings
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$24.13","priceAmount":24.13,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"24","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"13","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"XiCc%2F0wU2ysoWW2PHHuQezc%2FRS6luFbIaVAx%2B5QAlGv%2B7GzrEvKR6PjCD5idq4EQwJ4z9g1HBLwfsSM2vFrmc58W8SsT7TzzIseufBBg43ji0aks3EOizGeWGdFl287rg3FgnLAJ3I31ZCvpfodJtJN0iGnG8coysWLOYr2PULWIrhLReC4Hmg%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$19.88","priceAmount":19.88,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"19","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"88","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"XiCc%2F0wU2ysoWW2PHHuQezc%2FRS6luFbIKhwrBncGfaYFFI4eOLVZ4dyuxkSqO1Nt9v0OGQtWOiqMghCMsX12YRuqf7xAS%2BBGa6ghtVNT57MdTXuXhQZJVl0rzi4B7RkeVHhUQmFlCzuRRsiwgC6XN7npKGrjh2sH0OU%2B%2FOQJdBH2HY%2FG%2BTRq7fJ34PM7uiCM","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

A detailed and compelling examination of how the legal theory of originalism ignores and distorts the very constitutional history from which it derives interpretive authority
 
“What are the chances that, in 2024, a new book could fundamentally reorient how we understand America’s founding? Jonathan Gienapp . . . has written such a book. . . . You read it, and you get vertigo. . . . Gienapp’s book comes as a thunderclap.”—Cass Sunstein, Washington Post
 
Constitutional originalism stakes law to history. The theory’s core tenet—that the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted according to its original meaning—has us decide questions of modern constitutional law by consulting the distant constitutional past. Yet originalist engagement with history is often deeply problematic. And now that a majority of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court champion originalism, the task of scrutinizing originalists’ use and abuse of history has never been more urgent.
 
In this comprehensive and novel critique of originalism, Jonathan Gienapp targets originalists’ unspoken assumptions about the Constitution and its history. Originalists are committed to recovering the Constitution laid down at the American Founding, yet they often assume that the Constitution is fundamentally modern. Rather than recovering the original Constitution, they project their own understandings onto it, assuming that eighteenth-century constitutional thinking was no different than their own. They take for granted what it meant to write a constitution down, what law was, how it worked, and where it came from, and how a constitution’s meaning was fixed. In the process, they erase the Constitution that eighteenth-century Americans in fact created. By understanding how originalism fails, we can better understand the Constitution that we have.
Previous slide of product details
  1. Part of series
    Yale Law Library Series in Legal History and Reference
  2. Print length
    368 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Yale University Press
  5. Publication date
    September 3, 2024
  6. Dimensions
    6.2 x 1 x 9.3 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0300265859
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0300265859
Next slide of product details
The%20Amazon%20Book%20Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Great on Kindle
Great Experience. Great Value.
iphone with kindle app
Putting our best book forward
Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.

Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.

View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.

Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.

Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.
Get the free Kindle app: Link to the kindle app page Link to the kindle app page
Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.
View Kindle Edition

Frequently bought together

Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique (Yale Law Library Series in Legal History and Reference)
This item: Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique (Yale Law Library Series in Legal History and Reference)
$23.69
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Ships from and sold by Goldbridge Trading.
+
Memory and Authority: The Uses of History in Constitutional Interpretation (Yale Law Library Series in Legal History and Refe
$35.00
Get it as soon as Tuesday, Apr 29
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery in the Age of Federalisms (Yale Law Library Series in Legal Histor
$39.60
Get it as soon as Tuesday, Apr 29
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price: $00
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“What are the chances that, in 2024, a new book could fundamentally reorient how we understand America’s founding? Jonathan Gienapp . . . has written such a book. . . . You read it, and you get vertigo. . . . Gienapp’s book comes as a thunderclap.”—Cass Sunstein, Washington Post

A History Today Book of the Year, 2024

Chosen by Joy Porter for History Today “Books of the Year” 2024

“Against Constitutional Originalism . . . injects a fresh, powerful new argument against originalism into the debate.”—Andrew Lanham, New Republic

“Arguably the most important book written against originalist methodology. Originalists in the academy have little choice but to pay attention to it and respond to its charges. Gienapp . . . has emerged as one of [originalism’s] ablest critics.”—Aaron N. Coleman, Law & Liberty

“Just when you thought that surely there is nothing new or interesting to say about originalism, along comes Jonathan Gienapp. Against Constitutional Originalism is a must-read. For anyone new to the debates, it provides a comprehensive presentation of the arguments on all sides. For those already familiar, he takes the debate in a new direction that is a level deeper and more foundational. In so doing, he puts advocates of the theory into a conundrum that must force some kind of reconsideration.”—Larry Kramer, author of The People Themselves

“Professor Gienapp offers a new and devastating critique of originalism. Approaching originalism as an historian, he powerfully shows that originalism is a ‘contrived modern legal fiction’ that cannot be justified based on the original Constitution.”—Erwin Chemerinsky, author of Worse Than Nothing

“Most critiques of originalism attack its view of how to think about what the words of the Constitution mean. Gienapp’s analysis cuts far deeper; through exquisitely careful historical research, Gienapp shows that today’s originalists have overlooked the Founders’ understanding of what the Constitution even is. Against Constitutional Originalism is the most important book in constitutional theory since John Hart Ely’s Democracy and Distrust.”—Benjamin C. Zipursky, Fordham University School of Law

“This book is a crucial intervention in the long-running discourse about a method of constitutional interpretation that has gained ascendancy in recent years. Gienapp’s persuasive pushback should be read by all who are concerned about the future of American constitutional law and the American Republic.”—Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard University

“This is a critically important book about how our Constitution is read. It shakes the foundation of current practice to its core, and its conclusions will take time to be accepted by judges and lawyers. But the book will eventually change fundamentally the practice of constitutional jurisprudence. When it does, it will allow our law to become more democratically accountable—to the people who enact our laws, not the ancestors in our constitutional tradition.”—Lawrence Lessig, coauthor of How to Steal a Presidential Election

About the Author

Jonathan Gienapp is associate professor of history and law at Stanford University. He has published widely on the Constitution in American life and is the author of the prizewinning The Second Creation: Fixing the American Constitution in the Founding Era.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press (September 3, 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300265859
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300265859
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.49 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.2 x 1 x 9.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 36 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Jonathan Gienapp

Jonathan Gienapp

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
36 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find this book to be the best critique of originalism, with one review noting how the author beautifully presents arguments from all sides. The book receives positive feedback for its readability, with one customer describing it as an instant classic.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

4 customers mention "Critique"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's critique of originalism, with one customer noting how the author beautifully presents background on arguments from all sides, and another highlighting its exploration of political ideas in early America.

"...It was perfect. The author beautifully presents background on arguments from all sides, and does so in a way that makes the book not only..." Read more

"A leading historian's definitive, generous-minded critique of originalism **on originalist grounds**...." Read more

"This book offers a compelling critique of constitutional originalism, which both critics of originalist legal theories and (good-faith) defenders of..." Read more

"This will be a book that endures. It’s the single best critique of originalism available." Read more

3 customers mention "Readability"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable, with one describing it as an instant classic.

"...on arguments from all sides, and does so in a way that makes the book not only approachable, but quite enjoyable for the reader. Masterfully written." Read more

"...This book is an instant classic. Even leading originalists agree that Gienapp meets them on their own ground...." Read more

"Great Read..." Read more

Come for the critique, stay for the history!
5 out of 5 stars
Come for the critique, stay for the history!
This book offers a compelling critique of constitutional originalism, which both critics of originalist legal theories and (good-faith) defenders of originalism should find extremely valuable. But I’m a historian, and what I love about this book are its exploration of political ideas in early America, the strange and surprising features of this world, and Gienapp’s clear accounts of what it means to think historically. Read this book cover-to-cover! And check out the author’s other book, The Second Creation, too.
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

  • Susanne
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book.
    Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    One of the best books I've read recently! I picked this book up out of curiosity, and not much background on the topic. It was perfect. The author beautifully presents background on arguments from all sides, and does so in a way that makes the book not only approachable, but quite enjoyable for the reader. Masterfully written.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • A2 Reader
    5.0 out of 5 stars an instant classic
    Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    A leading historian's definitive, generous-minded critique of originalism **on originalist grounds**. Gienapp's discussion takes seriously the proposition that we should engage with the Founders' world view on its own terms. He takes seriously the proposition that their settlement should govern our modern constitutional options. And then he methodically disassembles the entire edifice of modern judicial and academic originalism, **as a matter of the Founders' original understanding of how constitutions worked**

    This book is an instant classic. Even leading originalists agree that Gienapp meets them on their own ground. You can be the judge of whose reading is best.
    7 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Hepler
    5.0 out of 5 stars Come for the critique, stay for the history!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This book offers a compelling critique of constitutional originalism, which both critics of originalist legal theories and (good-faith) defenders of originalism should find extremely valuable. But I’m a historian, and what I love about this book are its exploration of political ideas in early America, the strange and surprising features of this world, and Gienapp’s clear accounts of what it means to think historically. Read this book
    cover-to-cover! And check out the author’s other book, The Second Creation, too.
    Customer image
    Hepler
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Come for the critique, stay for the history!

    Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2024
    This book offers a compelling critique of constitutional originalism, which both critics of originalist legal theories and (good-faith) defenders of originalism should find extremely valuable. But I’m a historian, and what I love about this book are its exploration of political ideas in early America, the strange and surprising features of this world, and Gienapp’s clear accounts of what it means to think historically. Read this book
    cover-to-cover! And check out the author’s other book, The Second Creation, too.
    Images in this review
    Customer image
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Vincent
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
    Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    We went to thomas Jefferson’s house in Charlottesville and this inspired us to get the book
    Helpful
     Report
  • Patrick Sobkowski
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best critique of originalism
    Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This will be a book that endures. It’s the single best critique of originalism available.
    5 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Tom Jeff
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
    Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2025
    Fruitful addition to to the conversation around originalism
    Helpful
     Report
  • M.J. Peabody
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Book!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2024
    An incisive look at why originalism as practiced by the current Supreme Court is problematic. The book is as accessible as it is sophisticated. It provides a stimulating tour of early American constitutional history while also confronting leading originalists on their own theoretical terms. Originalists often act as though they know more about theory than do historians, but this book puts that claim to rest. Gienapp has vast mastery of legal theory and philosophy. Originalists have a lot of work to do if they hope to catch up. Come for the history, stay for the command performance in constitutional theory. Bravo!
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Ben Franklin
    1.0 out of 5 stars Is This What US Legal Scholarship Amounts To?
    Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2024
    I wasted 11 hours and 38 minutes listening to the audiobook version of "Against Constitutional Originalism". I made it through because I couldn't believe that its author would just repeat the same thing over and over. His mantra is that Supreme Court originalist reasoning about what the 1787 US Constitution requires is defective because it doesn't consider the historical environment in which it was written, for example English common law. That is an ok point for a 3 page article, but this book is ridiculous. Very few examples are given. Since I rented this title free from my local library's Hoopla service, I just lost time, not money, so don't pity me.

    I even find it silly that "originalism" is a serious legal issue in this day and age. I would like to read (or listen to) a book that explains why the US has continued to worry about what a 1787 text means with respect to current situations. Would anybody want their medical treatment based on the wisdom of 1787? Other nations have adopted updated written constitutions and chaos usually doesn't break out as a result. Jefferson, who said that a constitution should have a 19 year expiration date, wrote in 1816, “Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment.” I would like to understand better the US allegiance to its very dated governing document.
    5 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report