Library Journal Review

The United States Constitution is a short document, and it is written in general language, which leaves much of the meaning unwritten and open to interpretation. Dig into this important document and watershed in the history of governments! Explore the history, the various clauses, amendments, and interpretations. Understand your rights (and responsibilities)! From the Constitutional Convention to the creation of the Constitution and its eventual ratification, and to the Bill of Rights and the thorny constitutional issues of today, The Constitution Explained: A Guide for Every American covers the history, our founding fathers’ goals, and the varied interpretations of the Constitution that have informed the politics and functioning of the U.S. government. You’ll discover … How the Constitution makes the United States of America different from many countries around the world because it gives us a peaceful mechanism to resolve governmental issuesThe rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizensAn in-depth look at the freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights“The Miracle at Philadelphia” and “the Great Compromise”The many different methods used to interpret the ConstitutionControversial U.S. Supreme Court picks throughout history and how the size and tenure of the Supreme Court justices has long been a contentious issueThe remarkable evolution of death penalty jurisprudenceThe “Bill” Process, Pardon Power, Power of Judicial Review, and other stated and implied powers found in Articles I (Congress), II (Presidency) and III (Judicial)And much, much more!A guide to the citizenship and the American government, The Constitution Explained sheds a light on the differing and changing interpretations of the many broadly worded key phrases in the Constitution. You’ll learn how the Constitution has been adopted to different times and various situations. You’ll learn what it does—and does not—promise U.S. citizens. Richly illustrated, it also has a helpful bibliography, glossary, and extensive index. This invaluable resource is designed to help you understand the power and strength of the U.S. Constitution!

Instant New York Times Bestseller Washington Post Bestseller USA Today Bestseller Indie Bound Bestseller Authors Round the South Bestseller Midwest Indie Bestseller New York Times bestselling author Sarah Kendzior documents the truth about the calculated rise to power of Donald Trump since the 1980s and how the erosion of our liberties made an American dema­gogue possible. The story of Donald Trump’s rise to power is the story of a buried American history – buried because people in power liked it that way. It was visible without being seen, influential without being named, ubiquitous without being overt. Sarah Kendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight pulls back the veil on a history spanning decades, a history of an American autocrat in the making. In doing so, she reveals the inherent fragility of American democracy – how our continual loss of freedom, the rise of consolidated corruption, and the secrets behind a burgeoning autocratic United States have been hiding in plain sight for decades. In Kendzior’s signature and celebrated style, she expertly outlines Trump’s meteoric rise from the 1980s until today, interlinking key moments of his life with the degradation of the American political system and the continual erosion of our civil liberties by foreign powers. Kendzior also offers a never-before-seen look at her lifelong tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – living in New York through 9/11 and in St. Louis during the Ferguson uprising, and researching media and authoritarianism when Trump emerged using the same tactics as the post-Soviet dictatorships she had long studied. It is a terrible feeling to sense a threat coming, but it is worse when we let apathy, doubt, and fear prevent us from preparing ourselves. Hiding in Plain Sight confronts the injustice we have too long ignored because the truth is the only way forward.