Best books of 2006

The Austin American-Statesman asked me, along with many other Austinites, to select the best book we read of those published in 2006. My response follows:



"Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil," Mark A. Graber

This is a stunning meditation on the limits of the Constitution and on those who believe that we can escape the problems it poses by adopting one method of interpretation, be it "original intent" or the "fundamental values" of our polity. The title's "constitutional evil" is slavery and the infamous Dred Scott decision is the enduring symbol of the Founding Fathers' decision to prefer Union over Justice. It is comforting to believe that the case represents "judges on a rampage," instead of "constitutional fidelity," an enduring trope in our debates over the Constitution. But Graber shows that a constitutionally "faithful" judge could come to the awful conclusion that blacks had no rights that whites were bound to respect. This book is important for anyone who wishes to understand how our history has been shaped, not always for the best, by a Constitution that we too easily venerate (and recommend to other countries as a model for solving their political problems).


If the American Statesman had let me list two books, my other choice would have been Larry Wright's The Looming Tower, a remarkable history of the formation of Al-Qaeda, based on meticulous research and many trips to such countries as Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, etc. He also has extremely depressing chapters on the dysfunctional relationship between the FBI and CIA, which almost certainly contributed to our unjustifiable "surprise" on September 11. A member of the 9/11 Commission told me that he considered this the best book yet published on Al Qaeda and said that he wished it had been available to the Commission while it was doing its own analysis.