James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights

From esteemed journalist and author Richard Labunski comes a riveting narrative of the struggle to ratify the American Constitution. Part of the Oxford University Press Pivotal Moments in American History series'which includes David Hackett Fischer's Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington's Crossing'Labunski's book sheds new light on under-appreciated Founding Father James Madison.
The Constitution is so exalted that many Americans fail to realize it was just barely approved as the supreme law of the land. In Virginia, the most influential state at the time, the debate over ratification developed into a titanic struggle between political heavyweights Madison and Patrick Henry. Even after Madison promised to add a Bill of Rights to mollify anti-Federalists, Henry fought his rival bitterly, ensuring that Madison's political path was strewn with obstacles.