Teaching Federal Courts from a Little Red Book

Abstract

The Michie Co., Charlottesville, Va., 1984. Pp. xx, 907. $32.50.Reviewed by Thomas D. Rowe, Jr. t If I were Mark Tushnet and felt the urge that sometimes overcomes him, I I could do quite a job on the new federal courts casebook of which he is co-author. 2 I could say that the book suffered from too much sloppiness; that its organization was at times unhelpful and unclear; that its extensive notes occasionally were turgid and opaque; that the quality of its discussion problems was uneven; and that the authors did not always rise above tendentiousness. For each of these criticisms, there would be good foundation.Yet to say all that, however accurate, without saying more would do a grave injustice to a commendable book. Federal Jurisdiction: Policy and Practice, by Professors Howard Fink and Mark Tushnet, is an up-todate, comprehensive set of materials especially well geared for the classroom. The book is provocative and insightful, with thorough principal case coverage, valuable background explanations, and detailed notes, in a compact 880 pages of text. With rare exceptions, it is inclusive enough to permit some selectivity without making it necessary to forage through reams to pluck out pages worth having students read. Whatever problems exist with it now, 3 it already belongs in the first rank of federal