An account of the struggles of a Supreme Court justice both on and off the bench and his fight for racial equality - (Baker & Taylor)

An account of the struggles of a Supreme Court Justice both on and off the bench provides a compelling story of a life-long activist in the fight for racial equality and is based on unprecedented access to volumes of unpublished material. 15,000 first printing. - (Baker & Taylor)

Howard Ball, professor of political science and University Scholar at the University of Vermont, is a leading expert on the U.S. Supreme Court. He is the author of eighteen previous books and dozens of articles in leading political science journals and law reviews. He lives in Richmond, Vermont, with his wife, Carol, their dogs, Max and Casey, and a quarterhorse named Stormin' Norman. Their three daughters, Melissa, Sheryl, and Sue, visit on occasion. - (Random House, Inc.)

shall's extraordinary contribution to civil rights and overcoming racism is more topical than ever, as the national debate on race and the overturning of affirmative action policies make headlines nationwide. Howard Ball, author of eighteen books on the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary, has done copious research for this incisive biography to present an authoritative portrait of Marshall the jurist.

Born to a middle-class black family in "Jim Crow" Baltimore at the turn of the century, Marshall's race informed his worldview from an early age. He was rejected by the University of Maryland Law School because of the color of his skin. He then attended Howard University's Law School, where his racial consciousness was awakened by the brilliant lawyer and activist Charlie Houston. Marshall suddenly knew what he wanted to be: a civil rights lawyer, one of Houston's "social engineers." As the chief attorney for the NAACP, he developed the strategy for the legal challen - (Random House, Inc.)

Booklist Reviews

/*Starred Review*/ Ball's excellent analysis of Thurgood Marshall's lifework is grounded in the social and political context of the time. He highlights Marshall's relationship with Charles Houston, William "Bill" Hasties, and other NAACP luminaries who laid the legal foundation for the modern civil rights movement. In his transition from Mr. Civil Rights to Supreme Court justice, Marshall had differences with the new guard (from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.), particularly with those who defied the law. Yet such differences did not prevent Marshall from using the NAACP "Inc Fund" to provide legal assistance for participants in defiant student sit-in protests. Marshall's personal complexities are reflected in his periodic consultations with J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, and the suspicions and concerns those meetings raised. Ball parallels Marshall's personal life with the Supreme Court cases he judged, providing operational context, both on and off the bench, for Marshall's quest for racial and civil justice. This book in an invaluable read for those interested in U.S. social and legal history; see Juan Williams' Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary for emphasis on Marshall's personal history. ((Reviewed December 1, 1998)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews