Dissent

Reviews

"Brett Kavanaugh’s journey is not merely the story of one the most tumultuous Supreme Court nominating battles in history. As Jackie Calmes' brilliant book reveals, Kavanaugh’s rise also tracks the evolution of Republican politics and the right-wing takeover of our highest court."—David Axelrod, former chief strategist to President Obama, director of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, CNN senior commentator and host of "The Axe Files" podcast

"Jackie Calmes persuasively describes how, with a little luck and more than a little duplicity, Republicans have virtually assured a conservative-dominated Supreme Court for the foreseeable future. The focus is on the nomination battle over Brett Kavanaugh, a very smart and very partisan jurist with, as she details, 'a troubling pattern of shading the truth.' But the backdrop is the radicalization of the Republican Party over recent decades. DISSENT should be read by anyone who cares about the Supreme Court and, more broadly, a fair and honest political process."

—Albert R. Hunt, Washington columnist, podcast host, and former bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News "Jackie Calmes—one of the most insightful journalists in Washington, or anywhere else—brings fresh behind-the-scenes reporting and crackling narrative to the story of how the decades-long conservative project to remake the judiciary collided with the #MeToo movement. The bruising battle over Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination exposed the fragility of our institutions and our political system, and neither has yet to recover."—Karen Tumulty, Washington Post political columnist "The steady rise and tumultuous confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh—and with that, conservative command of the Supreme Court—reflects the transformation of the GOP, decades in the making and still underway. Clear-eyed and tough-minded, drawing on 40 years as a journalist and more than 200 interviews, Jackie Calmes takes us behind the scenes to see how it happened, and to understand the repercussions that will reverberate for years ahead. DISSENT is engaging, insightful and, at times, alarming."—Susan Page, New York Times bestselling author of THE MATRIARCH "Jackie Calmes, a savvy veteran Washington reporter who recognized the growing radicalization of the Republican Party decades before most everyone else, has written a sophisticated analysis of contemporary American politics through the lens of Brett Kavanaugh’s history, leading to his nomination and confirmation as a justice of the Supreme Court. DISSENT presents a riveting narrative with fresh insights to the most hotly contested judicial confirmation battle in American history and importantly links it to profound developments that define the troubled state of our democracy."
 —Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, New York Times bestselling authors of THE BROKEN BRANCH and IT'S EVEN WORSE THAN IT LOOKS "With a depth of research and a palpable love of politics, Jackie Calmes tells the story of the GOP's journey to power and the reckoning the party now faces as it struggles to contain the forces it unleashed. DISSENT is a brilliant look at the players who drive the system, unspooling through a Supreme Court confirmation fight that will resonate for decades."—Helene Cooper, New York Times bestselling author of THE HOUSE AT SUGAR BEACH and MADAME PRESIDENT Expand reviews