Book Reviews and Notices : International Law. BY CHARLES G. FENWICK. (New York and London: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., Third Edition, 1948. Pp. L, 744. Index. $5.00.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100337
• Published date: 01 September 1948
• Date: 01 September 1948
• Author: Wayne D. Williams
• Subject Matter: Articles

342
The Development of the Constitution
.
By PERCY T. FENN. (New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. 1948. Pp. xix, 733. $5.00. )
Percy T. Fenn’s The Development of the Constitution is not, as one
would suspect from the publisher’s advertisements, a casebook in constitu-
tional law, but is a history of constitutional growth, exactly as the title indi-
cates, using excerpts from decisions as a means of illustrating the basic prin-
ciples of the American system of government.
The book is divided into five parts: first, judicial review; second, the
great concepts of the Constitution such as political liberty, inviolability of
contracts, due process of law, and police power of the states; third, fiscal
powers of government; f ourth, interstate commerce in special relation to
definition, monopolies and labor unions; and fi f th, the revision of dogma
under the New Deal. Within this scope, Professor Fenn has done a careful,
scholarly job that is never weak, frequently has unusual insight, and is al-
ways sound.
The most successful device employed is the placing of &dquo;the revision
of dogma&dquo; cases at the end of the volume. The impact of the New Deal
on jurisprudence is strikingly revealed by this method. But if topical assign-
ments are desired, this arrangement will offer no obstacle, since the selections
are such that they will neatly fit into the first four sections. Another tech-
nique successfully used is the more-than-ordinary reliance on dissenting
opinions. In addition, there can be few quarrels with the selection of cases
granting the framework adopted.
Professor Fenn is least successful when it comes to matching the billing
his publisher has given his book, to wit, that &dquo;this volume, the only one of
its kind, provides a casebook in constitutional law for students in the social
sciences in colleges and unversities, rather than for students in law schools.&dquo;
The claim that The Development of the Constitution is the only book suited
to the...