The Brethren

Inside the Supreme Court

By: Bob Woodward, Scott Armstrong

Narrated by: Holter Graham

The Brethren is the first detailed behind-the-scenes account of the Supreme Court in action.

Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong have pierced its secrecy to give us an unprecedented view of the Chief and Associate Justices—maneuvering, arguing, politicking, compromising, and making decisions that affect every major area of American life.

Fascinating review of the court’s past and issues facing us today

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing stories of the court’s past, as it was eye-opening to learn more about how the Supreme Court worked and how decisions impacting us today were decided. This was a pivotal time for the judiciary and I searched for a book to teach me what happened, while being entertaining, too. This one did the trick! Well researched and insightful. Long, but entertaining and thought-provoking throughout. Highly recommend.

Took many field of mowing to get thru

I enjoyed the perspective on history. Just goes to how little the highest upper ring really bring to the table

Awful voiceover

Great book but terrible voiceover - this is legal drama, just give us the information. The narrator tries to do voices for dialogue and adds too much unneeded emphasis and even sarcasm. Just read the text, that’s what any listener of this would want. Disappointing.

If you are lawyer or a scotus fan READ THIS BOOK

Justices are, sadly, all too human. This is something we all ought to remember when we appraise the court. That is the main takeaway of this book. For better or worse, our justices are human. They are not, as we hope to believe, vectors for the law and its development. They are, above all, people. Funny, caustic, ingenious, banal, petty, and optimistic all in one.

As a Lawyer the human view of these giants which teach us the law was, at times, like a peep show. Getting to see something you’ve always wanted to see but never could. It had the good the bad and the ugly. The good, John Marshall Harlan’s and Harry Blackmun’s fastidiousness in trying to reach the right result. The bad, generally Warren Burger. And the Ugly, the decline of older Justices: Black, Harlan, and Douglas, as well as, my now, complicated feelings about Bill Rehnquist. This book is a healthy reminder that your hero’s and your villains are rarely the paragons we make them out as. But also, a rebuke of the phrase “never meet your heroes.”

Amazing

It's history, so it's not exactly like a legal thriller. But to get inside the mind of so many important Supreme Court decisions is nothing short of amazing.

I lived through this time period - school busing, the Roe v. Wade decision, the Nixon tapes and the legalization of pornography of free speech. From the outside, these are some of the most mind-boggling decisions of my lifetime. Thanks to Woodward, there's at least an understanding of how the decisions came to be made.

This is a great way to understand how the court works, and how Presidential appointments make such a profound difference.