The original compromise

The eighty-five famous essays by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay--known collectively as the Federalist Papers--compose the lens through which we typically view the ideas the U.S. Constitution. But we are wrong to do so, writes David Robertson, if we really want to know what the Founders were thinking. In this provocative new account of the framing of the Constitution, Roberston observes that the Federalist Papers represented only one side in a fierce argument that was settled by compromise--in fact, multiple compromises. Drawing on numerous primary sources, Robertson unravels the highly political dynamics that shaped the document. Brilliantly argued and deeply researched, this book will change the way we think of "original intent." With a bracing willingness to challenge old pieties, Robertson rescues the political realities that created the government we know today. -- Provided by publsiher, inside flaps.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Philosophy, Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.