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A review by gaderianne
The Lost Constitution by William Martin
3.0
It took me a long time to really start (and finish) this book, but the more I read the more I liked it. Although it wasn't a fast read , it didn't pull me or capture my attention right away, and it wasn't one of my favorite books I did like it. In short, Peter Fallon (a rare documents dealer) is contacted by several people of various political persuasions to find a rumored/lost first draft of the Constitution annotated by delegates from New England with their thoughts on the document. Both sides of the political spectrum have stakes in finding this document because of a proposed amendment to the Constitution to ban the second amendment.
The search is dangerous with multiple attempts at Peter's life (and his girlfriend Evangaline) and even kidnapping. Each chapter is interspersed with the story behind this historic document. The first historical "flashback" (for lack of a better word) starts at the beginning with Shays' Rebellion and the New England delegates creating their annotations on a draft, which ends up being stolen. So begins a centuries long search for the document (all within one family) through all of history starting in the 1780s, the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, Prohibition, the great depression, Watergate, even the Bill Clinton Impeachment. (All moments in history where truly knowing what delegates thought when the constitution was written could have changed the outcome of current events.) I really enjoyed the historical parts.
Meanwhile in the present...there were so many characters that it was hard to keep track of. But the book was written in such a way that it wasn't jarring or confusing jumping back and forth in time. A good read for anyone who is a history nerd like me.
The search is dangerous with multiple attempts at Peter's life (and his girlfriend Evangaline) and even kidnapping. Each chapter is interspersed with the story behind this historic document. The first historical "flashback" (for lack of a better word) starts at the beginning with Shays' Rebellion and the New England delegates creating their annotations on a draft, which ends up being stolen. So begins a centuries long search for the document (all within one family) through all of history starting in the 1780s, the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, Prohibition, the great depression, Watergate, even the Bill Clinton Impeachment. (All moments in history where truly knowing what delegates thought when the constitution was written could have changed the outcome of current events.) I really enjoyed the historical parts.
Meanwhile in the present...there were so many characters that it was hard to keep track of. But the book was written in such a way that it wasn't jarring or confusing jumping back and forth in time. A good read for anyone who is a history nerd like me.