by James Madison, Jack N. Rakove (Editor)



Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
James Madison (1751-1836) was a prominent participant in the American
Revolution and the framing of the U.S. Constitution and also served as
Secretary of State and President of the United States. Rakove, Coe
Professor of History and American Studies at Stanford University and a
Pulitizer Prize-winning historian, offers an extensive volume of Madison's
essays, speeches, and private memoranda from the Revolution and Articles
of Confederation through his post-Presidential activities. The book's
scope distinguishes it from similar one-volume efforts and allows us a
broader view of Madison's thinking than presented in The Federalist. The
chronological order helps readers examine different periods of Madison's
thought, e.g., his Federalist Papers expound a theory of an extended
republic and a general theory of separation of powers. Larger public and
academic libraries will find Rakove's presentation useful for readers'
understanding of Madison, whose writings are significant in advancing key
ideas central to the American Republic.ASteven Puro, St. Louis Univ.

Product Description:

America's greatest political thinker, in the most comprehensive one-volume
collection ever published

Over 200 years after the founding of the federal republic, James Madison
remains the most important political thinker in American history. The
prime framer of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Madison was also
a brilliant expositor of the new republican government and its underlying
principles. His eloquent and insightful writing on freedom of religion,
freedom of speech and the press, the rights of minorities under majority
rule, the role of the states in the federal system, and the separation of
powers are central to American political thought and speak to the
controversies of the present day.

James Madison: Writings is the most comprehensive one-volume selection
ever published. Arranged chronologically, it contains almost 200 documents
written between 1772 and 1836. Included are all 29 of Madison's
contributions to The Federalist, as well as speeches and letters that
illuminate his central role in framing and ratifying the Constitution and
in the adoption of the Bill of Rights; early writings on religious
freedom; revealing correspondence with Jefferson, Washington, Alexander
Hamilton, and James Monroe; his eloquent denunciations of the Alien and
Sedition Acts; influential writings on republican government and
constitutional interpretation; and candid private appraisals of the
personalities and events he witnessed in four decades of public life.
Writings from Madison's terms as secretary of state and president record
his determination to uphold American independence during the conflicts of
the Napoleonic era and his conscientious leadership of the nation during
the fiercely controversial War of 1812. Letters and essays from his
retirement reveal his deepening concern over the sectional threat to the
federal union he loved.

James Madison: Writings includes explanatory notes, a chronology of
Madison's life, and an index.

Product Details

Hardcover: 966 pages
Publisher: Library of America (September 1, 1999)
ISBN: 1883011663