| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 93.4

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 93.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights. By Richard Labunski. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. xiv, 336 pp. $28.00, ISBN 0-19-518105-0.)
Richard Labunski's new study is intended for a general audience. It demonstrates very little familiarity with the journal literature or relevant dissertations, and it smacks of law-office history in its thorough presentism.	1
The title of the book does not accurately describe its subject. Labunski tells the story not just of James Madison's role in the writing and ratification of the Bill of Rights, but of his role in the Philadelphia Convention and the ratification of the unamended federal Constitution of 1788 as well.	2
Throughout the book, the reader encounters a characteristic problem: Labunski avoids referring to the U.S.A. as "America" and to things related to the U.S.A. as "American." This manifestation of political correctness leaves Labunski in need of another term. Quite often, he chooses "the nation." Of course, America was not a "nation" during James Madison's career and to refer to it that way often distorts.	. . .

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