Paul’s deeply felt and penetrating biography.” - Wall Street Journal

His lasting achievements are ably served by Mr. is justly celebrated as the most far-sighted justice ever to lead the Supreme Court. “ has crafted a scholarly but highly readable and often entertaining chronicle that embeds Marshall among the leading lights of the nation’s founding generation, humanizing him along the way. Without Precedent is the engrossing account of the life and times of this exceptional man, who with cunning, imagination, and grace shaped America's future as he held together the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the country itself. This is the astonishing true story of how a rough-cut frontiersman⁠-born in Virginia in 1755 and with little formal education-invented himself as one of the nation's preeminent lawyers and politicians who then reinvented the Constitution to forge a stronger nation. As a diplomat and secretary of state, he defended American sovereignty against France and Britain, counseled President John Adams, and supervised the construction of the city of Washington. As the leading Federalist in Virginia, he rivaled his cousin Thomas Jefferson in influence.

As Chief Justice of the United States-the longest-serving in history-he established the independence of the judiciary and the supremacy of the federal Constitution and courts.

From the nation's founding in 1776 and for the next forty years, Marshall was at the center of every political battle. No member of America's Founding Generation had a greater impact on the Constitution and the Supreme Court than John Marshall, and no one did more to preserve the delicate unity of the fledgling United States. From the author of Unlikely Allies and Indivisible comes the remarkable story of John Marshall who, as chief justice, statesman, and diplomat, played a pivotal role in the founding of the United States.

Without Precedent by Joel Richard Paul