The Nine (2007) by Jeffrey Toobin

4 stars out of 5

This is a book about the Supreme Court. For those of you with no knowledge of the judicial branch of government, there are nine justices on the Supreme Court. This book focuses on the recent history of the court, especially the years since Bush v. Gore in 2000. Toobin gives the backgrounds of the current justices and the selection process behind many of their nominations.

I found this book engaging and interesting. This is obviously a guy who has followed the Supreme Court very closely and his commentary in weaving together different episodes and characters gave me a greater appreciation for the court. It was not, however, a book I could not put down. I put it down several times and only recently finished it. It has been so long since I actually finished a book I figured I should finally finish one.

This book is accessible to all readers, but for those with only a passing interest in the judiciary, it is probably too much. I follow the Supreme Court fairly closely, and I enjoyed it a lot. This book is not quite as good as "The Brethren" by Bob Woodward, which focused on the Burger court of the mid-70s, but it is still very good.