The Seven Best Legal Books of 2023 (in no particular order)
Compiled by Kerri-Ann Rowe, reference librarian and clinical assistant professor of law in the Kathrine R. Everett Law Library at UNC School of Law.
The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic
Stephen Vladeck
Basic Books (May 16, 2023)
In The Shadow Docket, Stephen Vladeck presents and analyzes how the U.S. Supreme Court utilizes its shadow docket, highlighting how the Court functions in ways that are not visible to the scrutiny of the public. The book unpacks the Court’s use of these unsigned orders and brings clarity to an often-misunderstood practice.
Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia
Gary J. Bass
Penguin Random House (October 17, 2023)
Judgment at Tokyo begins by setting the stage for the Tokyo-based trial of Japan’s military leaders after World War II (the “biggest trial of the world”) before unfolding with the trial itself, an example of the strengths and weaknesses of international law, and ending with the far-reaching effects of the case’s judgment.
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
David Grann
Doubleday (April 18, 2023)
David Grann weaves a gripping narrative around the HMS Wager, its shipwreck, and the trial that followed to determine who was truly at fault. Were the 30 stranded men who managed to sail home while battling starvation heroes or were they, as another group of castaways contended, mutineers?
King: A Life
Jonathan Eig
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (May 16, 2023)
Extensively researched, including with the addition of recently declassified FBI files, Jonathan Eig’s King recounts the life of Martin Luther King Jr. beginning with his childhood in Stockbridge, Georgia, presenting a clearer picture of King as a revolutionary and as a person.
Lawyer, Jailer, Ally, Foe: Complicity and Conscience in America’s World War II Concentration Campshe Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency
Eric Muller
The University of North Carolina Press (May 16, 2023)
UNC School of Law Professor Eric Muller’s book explores the line that attorneys must navigate between zealous advocacy and their own moral compass. This book focuses on the attorneys who worked in American detention camps during World War II, the same lawyers who provided legal counsel to the prisoners while attempting to manage the camps they were tasked with handling, emphasizing the moral dilemmas they faced and the ways they navigated being lawyers and people trying to do the right thing.
Lessons from North Carolina: Race, Religion, Tribe, and the Future of America
Gene Nichol
Penguin Random House (April 25, 2023)
In Lessons from North Carolina, UNC School of Law Professor Gene Nichol shares his love and concerns for North Carolina, providing a personal and critical evaluation of the state, its representatives, its people, and the lessons that the nation can learn from this “potent illustration of the challenges and meaning of America.”
Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
James B. Stewart & Rachel Abrams
Penguin Press (February 14, 2023)
Written by New York Times media reporter Rachel Abrams and Times business columnist James B. Stewart, Unscripted uses the legal battles between CBS and Viacom to highlight “the recent drumbeat of greed, backstabbing, plotting, and betrayal at the upper levels of American business and society.” Often dubbed the real-life Succession, Unscripted delves into the scandalous lives of family dynasties and unscrupulous business moguls.
