help a reader understand it. Truly, more has already been written on
the subject than can possibly be profitably read by most students
and, were the subject not so inherently fascinating and important,
readers could be excused had they decided long ago to declare a
moratorium on reading new books about the Constitution.

In writing the first edition of this work, the author believed there
was room, and, indeed, need for another book. He has been gratified
to find that students and professors alike have responded positively
to a volume whose author, making no pretensions to having cited
every Supreme Court decision or scholarly treatise on each subject,
focused instead on how much consensus there is about the meaning
of the Constitution. Profiting from further study of this document
and perceiving a need for somewhat greater detail than was pro-
vided in the first volume, the author has not only updated the sec-
ond edition but has also expanded the number of prior Supreme
Court decisions discussed. In the process, he has attempted to see
that the reader's view of the constitutional forest remains unob-
scured by attention to too many judicial trees. To this end, this edi-
tion includes a glossary of key terms and a description of 50 key
Supreme Court decisions with which many students will want to
familiarize themselves.

This book is quite deliberately referred to as a "companion" to
the Constitution. The idea of designating the manuscript as a
"guide" seemed overly pretentious, whereas the notion of calling it
an "interpretation" seemed too individualistic. The author hopes
that this book will be a good companion, or accompanist, to a read-
ing of the Constitution. He has attempted to devote rigorous schol-
arly attention to the Constitution and to cultivate sufficient empathy
with the thoughts of those who have framed, interpreted, and
amended the document so that he can introduce readers to it much
as he might introduce them to one of his friends. Like one might feel
about a friend, the author has great respect for a document that he
recognizes to be flawed but believes is still one of the greatest doc-
uments of its kind in the world.

If such readers come to understand and appreciate the Constitution
better because of this author's efforts, he will be grateful that he has
been able to repay part of the immense debt he owes to his teachers
(many themselves intimate companions to the Constitution), to his
brave and wise forebears who were so committed to establishing and
preserving a system of liberty under law, and to those who today still
cherish and defend constitutional government.

-xiv-