From gay rights and same-sex marriage to abortion and equal rights, today's hottest political debates all go back to this essential issue: What did the United States Constitution really mean and who understands its meaning best? For this document means different things at different times to different groups of Americans. Jack N. Rakove chronicles the Constitution from its birth to ratification in Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution. This Pulitzer Prize-winning history focuses on James Madison, who shaped the Constitution's framing and examines the particular influence of all the framers of this document. Rakove is the Coe Professor of History at Stanford University. | Original Meanings by Jack N. Rakove, Paperback | Indigo Chapters