Points of View

Rakove writes the book in the third person with quotes where they exist from written documentation. He readily fills in with background material. This allows the reader to go behind the scenes at the Constitutional Convention. He lets the reader see how situations develop and how they are resolved. The reader has to appreciate this because it is a view of the Constitution that we rarely, if ever, see.

Rakove uses a variety of documents including diaries, notes, letters, and press items to reconstruct the activities that take place prior to the Convention, at the Convention and during the period of ratification. He interprets these activities in an academic fashion and brings in relevant theory and facts when necessary.

Setting

The setting for the book is the ten years following the Articles of Confederation, or the 1780s on the East Coast. Philadelphia is the site of...