An in-depth analysis of the workings and legacy of the Supreme Court led by Charles Evans Hughes. Charles Evans Hughes, a man who, it was said, "looks like God and talks like God," became chief justice in 1930, a year when more than 1,000 banks closed their doors. Today the Hughes Court is often remembered as a conservative bulwark against Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. But that view, according to author Michael Parrish, is not accurate. In an era when Nazi Germany passed the Nuremberg Laws and extinguished freedom in much of Western Europe, the Hughes Court put the stamp of constitutional approval on New Deal entitlements, required state and local governments to bring their laws into conformity with the federal Bill of Rights, and took the first steps toward developing a more uniform code of criminal justice. Biographical portraits of the Hughes Court justices, including Harlan Fiske Stone, Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter, and William O. Douglas Extensive analysis of the major decisions of the Hughes Court, particularly in the areas of civil liberties and government and the economy

America in Prosperity and Depression, 1920—1941

"Impressively detailed. . . . An authoritative and epic overview." — Publishers Weekly

In the convulsive years between 1920 and 941, Americans were first dazzled by unprecedented economic prosperity and then beset by the worst depression in their history. It was the era of Model T's, rising incomes, scientific management, electricity, talking movies, and advertising techniques that sold a seemingly endless stream of goods. But is was also a time of grave social conflict and human suffering.

The Crash forced Hoover, and then Roosevelt and the nation, to reexamine old solutions and address pressing questions of recovery and reform, economic growth and social justice. The world beyond America changed also in these years, making the country rethink its relation to events in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The illusion of superiority slowly died in the 1930s, sustaining a fatal blow in December 1941 at Pearl Harbor.

"A highly readable synthesis. . . . Parrish is particularly adept at explaining the rise of 'the consumer culture' and its relationship to state power and social/intellectual trends." —Library Journal