http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1152714608

James Madison and the struggle for the Bill of Rights

The birth of the Bill of Rights ... was the outcome of furious debate and an epic political struggle that might have fragmented the American republic even as it was being formed. [The book gives an] account of how an unlikely hero - the shy, soft-spoken, and scholarly James Madison - almost single-handedly brought the Bill of Rights to life against daunting odds.... [The book] takes us inside the sweltering converted theater in downtown Richmond where, for three grueling weeks, the quiet Madison and the charismatic Patrick Henry - a patriotic icon dead set against the new plan of government - dueled over whether Virginia should ratify the Constitution. The stakes were enormous: if Virginia voted no, George Washington could not become president, New York might follow suit and reject the Constitution, and the young nation would be thrust into political chaos. Madison won the day by a handful of votes, mollifying Anti-Federalist fears by promising to add a bill of rights to the Constitution.... To fulfill his pledge, Madison would have to win a seat in the First Congress. A vengeful Henry first denied Madison a Senate seat, then forced him to run for the House against a war hero, James Monroe, in a district teeming with political enemies. -Dust jacket.

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