"[A] bold, perceptive offering . . . Thought-provoking." ―Elizabeth R. Varon, The Washington Post

"[A] magnificent book . . . Feldman skillfully reconciles his expertise as a law professor and his skill as a popular writer, rendering a careful dissection of old legal doctrine accessible and exciting. The reader thinks alongside the great legal minds of the 19th century and feels Lincoln enduring the opposing and sharp pulls of law and politics . . . It is a testament to Feldman’s skills as a scholar and public intellectual that he can make accessible the breaking and remaking of legal norms through vibrant writing and their organization in a rich and novel theoretical framework . . . Feldman’s book will be of interest to scholars, students and the general public." ―Joshua Braver, Lawfare

"Feldman offers an elucidating look into Lincoln’s incremental thinking, neatly demonstrating how he articulated the “before” and “after” Constitution in the Gettysburg Address as a compromise versus a moral document, using an Old Testament/New Testament analogy that embodied equality for all promised in the Declaration of Independence. Feldman never bogs down in legalese, rendering a scholarly topic accessible for general readers. A marvelously intricate work on Lincoln’s writings and thoughts, which continue to offer fodder for historians." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Vignettes about slavery, the negotiators of the compromises, abolitionists, the Civil War, and beyond offer context for Feldman’s innovative legal analysis. In describing interactions among political groups, voting rights, diverse views of abolitionists, suspending habeas corpus, and censorship, Feldman offers insights strikingly relevant to today’s politics.” ―John Rowen, Booklist

"[A] probing study . . . An astute and eye-opening look at an underexamined aspect of the quest to end slavery.” ―Publishers Weekly

“With insight and a talent for illumination, Noah Feldman explores our greatest president’s complicated relationship with a document he revered―and changed forever.” ―Jon Meacham, author of Thomas Jefferson, American Lion, and His Truth Is Marching On

“Is there really a need for yet another book on Abraham Lincoln? The answer is yes, at least with regard to Noah Feldman’s stunning examination of Lincoln and ‘the broken Constitution.’ It truly needs to be read by anyone interested not only in our tangled and tragic constitutional history but also in the continuing problems that face us today. He conveys in lucid prose the best existing overview of the constitutional issues that Lincoln (and the country) faced with regard to slavery in general and the conduct of the ‘war to preserve the union’ in particular. Whether one is a general reader or a professional academic, this is a book demanding to be read and discussed.” ―Sanford Levinson, Centennial Chair at the University of Texas Law School and coauthor of Fault Lines in the Constitution

"With his characteristic verve, erudition, and insight, Noah Feldman explores the constitutional breakup reflected and propelled by the Civil War. That he sheds fresh light on a subject that has been discussed so extensively is deeply impressive.” ―Randall Kennedy, professor at Harvard Law School and author of Say It Loud!

“It’s Noah Feldman’s oft-demonstrated great gift to write about complex things clearly, with an eye to what’s important. There are many books about the trials of the Constitution and even more about Lincoln, but very few get both as right as this one.” ―David Waldstreicher, author of Slavery’s Constitution: From Revolution to Ratification

Noah Feldman is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard University as well as a Senior Fellow of the Society of Fellows and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a contributing writer for Bloomberg View.

Before joining the Harvard faculty, Feldman was Cecelia Goetz Professor of Law at New York University School of Law. He was named a Carnegie Scholar in 2005. In 2004, he was a visiting professor at Yale Law School and a fellow of the Whitney Humanities Center. In 2003, he served as senior constitutional advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, and advised members of the Iraqi Governing Council on the drafting of the Transitional Administrative Law or interim constitution. He served as a law clerk to Justice David H. Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court (1998–1999). Selected as a Rhodes Scholar, he earned a D. Phil. in Islamic Thought from Oxford University and a J.D. from Yale Law School, serving as Book Reviews Editor of the Yale Law Journal. He received his A.B. summa cum laude in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University in 1992, finishing first in his class.

He is the author of several books, including Cool War: The Future of Global Competition; the award winning and acclaimed Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR’s Great Justices; The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State; Divided By God: America's Church-State Problem and What We Should Do About It; and After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy. With Kathleen Sullivan, he coauthored textbooks on constitutional and first amendment law. He has worked as a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine.