This site will work and look better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

Summer Reading

Students often ask what summer reading will best prepare them for law school. Probably the best advice is to read things that you like and find relaxing—and to enjoy the summer in general as best you can. There is plenty of hard work ahead, and the most effective way to prepare for it is to do things that will help you feel relaxed, energetic and focused by the time the end of August rolls around. But for those with the time and interest, the following is a list of law-related books suggested by members of the Law School faculty. As you will see, these suggestions cover a range of styles and topics. Obviously this is just a starting point for a lifetime of reading in the law, and you should feel free to choose those that most appeal to your tastes and interests. Most of all, we hope you will take pleasure in sampling the list! Suggestions for additions to the list are always welcome.

Anne Dailey
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Evangeline Starr Professor of Law

---

General Books Relating to the Law

Asylum Denied: A Refugee's Struggle for Safety in America
by David Ngaruri Kenney and Philip Schrag
University of California Press, 2008
A compelling account of a refugee's escape from brutal political persecution in Africa and his legal journey through a U.S. immigration system marred by arbitrary decision-making and bureaucratic indifference.

The Buffalo Creek Disaster: How the Survivors of One of the Worst Disasters in Coal-Mining History Brought Suit Against the Coal Company--And Won
by Gerald M. Stern
Random House, 1976

Cardozo
by Andrew Kaufman
Harvard University Press, 1998

The Children in Room E4: American Education on Trial
by Susan Eaton
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2007

A Civil Action
by Jonathan Harr
Random House, 1995

Damages: One Family's Legal Struggles in the World of Medicine
by Barry Werth
Simon & Schuster, 1988
This book is about an actual medical malpractice lawsuit in Connecticut, but it reads like a gripping novel. Note: One of the attorneys in the lawsuit, Michael Koskoff, is a Law School alumnus.

The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of Reconstruction
by Charles Lane
Henry Holt & Company, 2008

Disoriented: Asian Americans, Law and the Nation State
by Robert Chang
New York University Press, 1999

Dispensing with the Truth: The Victims, the Drug Companies, and the Dramatic Story Behind the Battle over Fen-Phen
by Alicia Mundy
St. Martin's Press, 2001

Everything in Its Path
by Kai T. Erickson
Simon & Schuster, 1976

Gideon's Trumpet
by Anthony Lewis
Vintage Books, 1989

The Hunting of the Snark
by Lewis Carroll
Adamant Media Corp., 2006
Not particularly law-related (though it does include the marvelous "The Barrister's Dream"), but Carroll's comic poem is a lot of fun, and offers some insights to anyone embarking on a new venture.

Infidel
by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Free Press, 2007

Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope
by Shirin Ebadi
Random House, 2006

John Marshall and the Heroic Age of the Supreme Court
by Kent Newmyer
Louisiana State University Press, 2001
In what has been described simply by G. Edward White, as "the best study of Marshall yet to appear and one of the finest judicial biographies in American literature" Professor of Law and History Kent Newmyer has instructed a wide readership on the philosophy and accomplishments of one of the transformative figures in American history.

The Judge in a Democracy
by Aharon Barak
Princeton University Press, 2006

The Lawyer Myth: A Defense of the American Legal Profession
by Rennard Strickland and Frank Read
Ohio University Press, 2008
A reflection by two former law deans about the world of lawyer jokes and public opinion versus the real and important work done by lawyers.

The Lost Promise of Civil Rights
by Risa Goluboff
Harvard University Press, 2007

The Making of Environmental Law
by Richard Lazarus
Chicago Press, 2004
This is an excellent history of modern (post 1969) environmental law making and policy thinking.

The Medical Malpractice Myth
by Tom Baker
University of Chicago Press, 2005

The New Environmental Regulation
by Daniel Fiorino
MIT Press, 2006

No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System
by David Cole
The New Press, 1999

A Question of Intent: A Great American Battle with a Deadly Industry
by David Kessler
Public Affairs Books, 2001
Kessler discusses the FDA's investigation of the tobacco industry and the legal fight over whether the FDA had the statutory authority to regulate cigarettes. A great read.

Shades of Green
by Neil Gunningham, Robert A. Kagan and Dorothy Thornton
Stanford University Press, 2003
This is a careful study of the environmental protection efforts of 14 pulp manufacturers, both efforts aimed at complying with regulations and efforts aimed at going beyond regulations.

The Showdown at Gucci Gulch
by Allan Murray
Random House, 1987
This is the story of the 1986 Tax Reform Act. It provides great insight into the legislative process; it's the concept of "political economy" in narrative form, and a fun read.

Simple Justice
by Richard Kluger
Albert A. Knopf, Inc., 1976
One of the best histories of the long road to Brown v. Board of Education.

Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story: Statesman of the Old Republic
by Kent Newmyer
University of North Carolina Press, 1985

The Supreme Court under Marshall and Taney, 2nd Edition
by Kent Newmyer
Harlan Davidson, 2006

Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary
by Juan Williams
Times Books, 1998

Yankee from Olympus: Justice Holmes & His Family
by Catherine Drinker Brown
Little Brown & Co., 1945
The first Holmes biography. An inspiring start for the importance of legal craftsmanship and an open mind.

Legal Theory

And We Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice
by Derrick Bell
Basic Books, Inc., 1987

Capitalism and Freedom
by Milton Friedman
Univesity of Chicago Press, 1962

A Clearing in the Forest: Law, Life, and Mind
by Steven Winter
University of Chicago Press, 2003

The Common Place of Law
by Susan Silbey and Patricia Ewick
University of Chicago Press, 1998

Covering: The Hidden Assault on our Civil Rights
by Kenji Yoshino
Random House, 2006

Framing Contract Law: An Economic Perspective
by Victor Goldberg
Harvard University Press, 2007
Looks at some famous cases, combining background research with simple economic reasoning. Written for lawyers and law students.

Justice, Gender & the Family
by Susan Moller Okin
Basic Books, Inc., 1989

The Politics of Law: A Progressive Critique, 3rd Ed.
D. Kairys, ed.
Basic Books, Inc., 1998

The Nature of the Judicial Process
by Benjamin Cardozo
Yale University Press, 1921
Nobody should graduate from law school without reading the best of the books on the craft of judging by one of the great ones.

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness
by Richard Tahler and Cass Sunstein
Yale University Press, 2008

Race and the Alchemy of Rights
by Patricia Williams
Harvard University Press, 1991

The Race Card: How Bluffing about Bias Makes Race Relations Worse
by Richard Thompson Ford
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008
A semi-popular meditation on what discrimination is and isn't, and what the law can/should do about it. This is a very readable book, with examples drawn from law and popular culture.

Rebellious Lawyering: One Chicano's Vision of Progressive Law Practice
by Gerald Lopez
Westview Press, 1992

Rights of Inclusion: Law and Identity in the Life Stories of Americans with Disabilities
by David Engel and Frank Munger
University of Chicago Press, 2003

The Road to Serfdom
by Friedrich Hayek
University of Chicago Press, 1944

Sexual Harassment of Working Women: A Case of Sex Discrimination
by Catharine A. MacKinnon, Thomas I. Emerson (Introduction)
Yale University Press, 1979

The Structure of Liberty: Justice and the Rule of Law
by Randy E. Barnett
Oxford University Press, 2000

Simple Rules for a Complex World
by Richard A. Epstein
Harvard University Press, 1995

Taking Rights Seriously
by Ronald Dworkin
Harvard University Press, 1977

A Theory of Justice
by John Rawls
Harvard University Press, 1971

Law-Related Fiction

To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
J.B. Lippincott & Company, 1960

The Judas Window
by Carter Dickson
Morrow, 1938
Wonderful detective story, mostly 1930s British trial practice, Dickson (under his real name, John Dickson Carr) was a favorite of Oliver Wendell Holmes in his retirement. Great start for criminal law.

The Legacy
by James Michener
Random House, 1987

Law School

Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams
by Michael Fischl & Jeremy Paul
Carolina Academic Press, 1999

Law 101: Everything You Need to Know About the American Legal System
by Jay M. Feinman
Oxford University Press, 2006

Legal Education and the Reproduction of Hierarchy: A Polemic against the System
by Duncan Kennedy
New York University Press, 2004

One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School
by Scott Turow
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1977

Of Possible Interest

Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
by Robert D. Putnam
Simon and Schuster, 2000
In 2000, Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam published Bowling Alone, a book full of fascinating statistics which he claims demonstrate that civic engagement in America has been in decline since the 1950s. Although some scholars have criticized Putnam's sweeping thesis, this book nonetheless raises important questions for policymakers and attorneys.

Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most
by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton & Sheila Heen
Penguin Books, 2000

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures
by Anne Fadiman
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998
This book tells the story of a family of Laotian immigrants with an epileptic daughter, and the vastly different world-views and conceptions of disease and treatment held by her family and by the medical establishment. It is a book about the difficulties of cross-cultural communication, with many lessons for lawyers in a multicultural society.