The U.S. Constitution: A Very Short Introduction

David J. Bodenhamer

Aug 2018 · Highbridge Audio · Narrated by Walter Dixon

About this audiobook

Though the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788, its impact on our lives is as recent as today's news. Claims and counterclaims about the constitutionality of governmental actions are a habit of American politics. This document, which its framers designed to limit power, often has made political conflict inevitable. It also has accommodated and legitimized the political and social changes of a vibrant, powerful democratic nation. A product of history's first modern revolution, the Constitution embraced a new formula for government: it restrained power on behalf of liberty, but it also granted power to promote and protect liberty. The U.S. Constitution: A Very Short Introduction explores the major themes that have shaped American constitutional history: federalism, the balance of powers, property, representation, equality, rights, and security. Informed by the latest scholarship, this book places constitutional history within the context of American political and social history. As our nation's circumstances have changed, so has our Constitution.

About the author

David J. Bodenhamer is the founding Executive Director of The Polis Center, Professor of History, and Adjunct Professor of Informatics at IUPUI. He is author or editor of twelve books in American legal and constitutional history and in spatial humanities, which applies geospatial technologies to humanities disciplines.

Walter Dixon is a winner of Audible's "#1 Editor's Choice and Customer Favorites" award. He has narrated more than 200 audiobooks; performed in musical theater, drama and opera productions, and professional stand-up comedy; and voiced commercials, corporate videos, animated features, and vintage radio dramas.