Most Popular Books by Alan M. Dershowitz

The well-known attorney discusses what it is like to be Jewish today, examining such issues as anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, assimilation, Zionism, civil rights, the role of Jews in the U.S.S.R., and changes in Eastern Europe.

The renowned attorney and bestselling author reveals how notable trials throughout our history have helped to shape our nation. Offering insights into the human condition, these trials serve as a historical document, chronicling the struggles and passions of their time.

Renowned legal scholar and bestselling author Dershowitz reveals precisely why Fifth Amendment rights matter, and discusses how they are being reshaped, limited, and in some cases revoked in the wake of 9/11.

From the legal tactician who has represented such famous clients as Mike Tyson, O.J. Simpson, and Michael Milken, comes a novel that goes far beyond the limits of the courtroom thriller to probe our deepest fears and asks the controversial legal question--What do you do if you are a defense attorney who suspects your client is guilty and dangerous?

Every so often, a startling book emerges that gives voice to a new or previously unexamined trend that is transforming society. Alan M. Dershowitz''s provocative new work, Preemption, is just such a book, chronicling a paradigm shift in our approach to controlling destructive conduct. As he reveals, we are movingwhether in society''s manner of fighting crime or in our response to terrorismtoward more preventive and proactive approaches and away from primary reliance on deterrent and reactive responses. Although the events of 9/11 have accelerated this revolutionary shift, Dershowitz compellingly documents that the seeds were planted much earlier. In this thought-provoking account, Dershowitz explores the historical origins of the change as well as its troubling implication for civil liberties, human rights, criminal justice, national security, and foreign policy. About the series: Issues of Our Time? "Aware of the competition for the attention of readers, W. W. Norton & Company and I have created the "Issues of Our Time" as a lucid series of highly readable books through which some of today''s most thoughtful intellectuals seek to challenge the general reader to reexamine received truths and grapple with powerful trends that are shaping the world in which we live. The series launches with Anthony Appiah, Alan Dershowitz, and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen as the first of an illustrious group who will tackle some of the most plangent and central issues defining our society today through books that deal with such issues as sexual and racial identities, the economics of the developing world, and the concept of citizenship in a truly globalized twenty-first-century world culture. Above all else, these books are designed to be read and enjoyed." -- Henry Louis Gates Jr., W. E. B. DuBois Professor of the Humanities, Harvard University

The author offers advice gleaned from his life as a lawyer and scholar to readers seeking fulfillment in their life''s work by sharing anecdotes and opinions about ethics, morality, choosing mentors, and dealing with critics.

The author presents his most famous, and infamous, cases and clients, and in the process, takes a critical, informed look at a legal system that he regards as deeply corrupt. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

The esteemed Harvard lawyer describes his career and the cases that have changed American jurisprudence throughout the past half century, discussing his early academic struggles, his clerking work for Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, and his role in many prominent cases.

From the nation''s most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer comes a "dazzling and stimulating" exploration of how the creation of the ten commandments provides the origins to today''s law (Library Journal). Alan Dershowitz is one of America''s most famous litigation experts. In the Genesis of Justice he examines the Genesis narratives to bring to the reader an insight into the creation of the ten commandments and much of what is now law.

One of America''s leading appeal lawyers, Alan Dershowitz was the man chosen to prepare the appeal should O.J. Simpson have been convicted. Now Professor Dershowitz uses this case to examine the larger issues and to identify the social forces - media, money, gender, and race - that shape the criminal-justice system in America today. How could one of the longest trials in the history of America''s judicial system produce a verdict after only hours of jury deliberation? Was this really a case of circumstantial evidence?

According to renowned defense attorney and Harvard law professor Alan M. Dershowitz, "abuse excuses" are enabling people to get away with murder - literally. From the Menendez brothers to Lorena Bobbitt, more and more Americans accused of violent crimes are admitting to the charges, but arguing that they shouldn''t be held legally responsible. The reason: they''re victims - of an abusive parent, a violent spouse, a traumatic experience, ethnic hatred, society at large, or anything else - who struck back at a real or perceived oppressor. And they couldn''t help themselves, they say. In this provocative and important collection of essays, Dershowitz reviews a wide range of recent cases - including those of O. J. Simpson, Tonya Harding, and Woody Allen - and argues that the current vogue in victim defenses is antithetical to the ideals of our constitutional democracy. For Dershowitz, the foundations of American society are individual responsibility and the rule of law. And people who claim to be above the law - whatever the excuse - are no more than vigilantes.

Dershowitz, who has represented such infamous personalities as Mike Tyson, Leona Helmsley, and Klaus von Bulow, now offers his sharp, trenchant opinions on a vast array of subjects, including pornography, abortion, the Rodney King case, the Supreme Court, terrorism, and the war on drugs.

One of the foremost courtroom lawyers of his generation. Alan M. Dershowitz takes controversial stands based on the principle of equal justice for all. Along the way, he has authored the #1 New York Times bestseller Chutzpah; the bestselling account of the Claus von Bulow case Reversal of Fortune; and the bestselling courtroom drama The Advocate''s Devil. Now Dershowitz has written a novel that is at once personal, passionate, and towering: an explosive legal thriller that pits Dershowitz''s literary alter ego, attorney Abe Ringel, against the worst crime of the twentieth century -- the Holocaust. What if you witnessed the most abominable deeds that human beings can inflict upon each other? What if you came face-to-face with the very man who had slaughtered your family before your eyes? That is the question confronted by a celebrated professor named Max Menuchen. Max has found the man who had killed his entire family in cold blood more than a half century before. Max, who has never before broken a law, cannot turn down his chance for revenge. In 1943 Marcellus Prandus was a Lithuanian militia captain who carried out the blood-thirsty orders of his Nazi commanders during World War II. Today he is an old man living outside Boston. For Max, who has discovered Prandus''s identity by chance, killing him is not enough, because Prandus is already dying of cancer. How can Max make Prandus suffer exactly as Max himself did? Can Max bring himself to assassinate Prandus''s children and grandchildren and make the old man watch his family die, as Max himself was forced to do? By the time defense attorney Abe Ringel enters the case, Max has carried out an astounding act of revenge, and America''sgreat Holocaust trial has begun: an explosive legal and moral struggle to find the light of justice within the darkness of human evil. With Max facing almost certain conviction, Ringel desperately tries to prove his actions we

World-renowned lawyer Alan Dershowitz recounts stories from his many years of defending the state of Israel. Alan Dershowitz has spent years advocating for his "most challenging client"—the state of Israel—both publicly and in private meetings with high level international figures, including every US president and Israeli leader of the past 40 years. Replete with personal insights and unreported details, Defending Israel offers a comprehensive history of modern Israel from the perspective of one of the country''s most important supporters. Readers are given a rare front row seat to the high profile controversies and debates that Dershowitz was involved in over the years, even as the political tides shifted and the liberal community became increasingly critical of Israeli policies. Beyond documenting America''s changing attitude toward the country, Defending Israel serves as an updated defense of the Jewish homeland on numerous points—though it also includes Dershowitz''s criticisms of Israeli decisions and policies that he believes to be unwise. At a time when Jewish Americans as a whole are increasingly uncertain as to who supports Israel and who doesn''t, there is no better book to turn to for answers—and a pragmatic look toward the future.

The author of the New York Times bestseller The Case for Israel charts a controversial but crucial path to peace in the Middle EastIn the bestselling The Case for Israel, Alan Dershowitz used all his skills as an advocate to defend the Jewish state against the lies and distortions that have been hurled at it in recent years.

Harvard legal scholar Dershowitz presents a timely analysis and chronology of events leading up to what he terms "the Clinton/Starr constitutional crisis," tracing it back to its Whitewater roots. The partisan author probes beyond the current headlines to raise questions about whether the President''s private life is the public''s business, the independent counsel''s equating of sex and politics, and the likely precedent-setting legacies of this case. No index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Includes history of the recent war in Gaza from the end of Operation Cast Lead (December 2008-January 2009) to Operation Protective Edge (July-August 2014).

"No one knows more about Israel''s existential dilemma than Alan Dershowitz-or writes about it better. From its explosive beginning to its startling climax, The Trials of Zion excites and intrigues, even as it depicts the unique dangers of a lethal part of the world. This is a terrific novel." -- Richard North Patterson "For a legalist, mired for years in towers of ivory not even hewn from the teeth of endangered elephants but constructed, indeed, and solely, of the casuistic and notional, Mr. Dershowitz writes a real good rip-snorter." -- David Mamet "A thought-provoking thriller set in two of the world''s most gripping arenas of conflict, the Middle East and the courtroom." -- Steven Pinker, author of The Stuff of Thought,and Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction "As in all his essays, in his novel also, Alan Dershowitz demonstrates his great love for Israel as well as his inspired passion for Jewish memory, justice, and storytelling." -- Elie Wiesel A shocking act of terror brings the Middle East to the point of explosion. As the resulting political conflict threatens to erupt, a young Jewish-American lawyer joins the defense team of an arrested but possibly innocent Palestinian. Soon the lawyer''s father, a famed criminal attorney, must win the Palestinian''s case or risk losing his daughter forever. To do so, he must take into account the tormented history of the Holy Land from every possible angle. The Trials of Zion combines the tension of the greatest courtroom dramas with the action of a fast-moving thriller, all set against the colorful backdrop of one of the most complex cultural settings in the world. Filled with memorable characters, this novel offers readers not only compelling suspense, but a panoramic view of the history of a beloved and bitterly contested land, and a sharply controversial perspective on the sources of--and the possible solutions to--the world''s longest and most crucial international crisis.

Explores the meaning of Jewishness in light of the increasing assimilation of America''s Jews and suggests ways to preserve Jewish identity.

A noted legal scholar examines the source of human rights, arguing that rights are the result of particular experiences with injustice and looking at the implications in terms of the right to privacy, voting rights, and other rights.

The author presents a collection of his best writings on civil liberties issues, from the right to choice to the separation of church and state, and provides his own controversial philosophy of rights.

One of America''s most distinguished defenders of civil liberties presents measures that will prevent terrorism and still uphold our democratic values The greatest danger facing the world today, says Alan M. Dershowitz, comes from religiously inspired, state sponsored terrorist groups that seek to develop weapons of mass destruction for use against civilian targets. In his newest book, Dershowitz argues passionately and persuasively that global terrorism is a phenomenon largely of our own making and that we must and can take steps to reduce the frequency and severity of terrorist acts. Analyzing recent acts of terrorism and our reaction to them, Dershowitz explains that terrorism is successful when the international community gives in to the demands of terrorists--or even tries to understand and eliminate the "root causes" of terrorism. He discusses extreme approaches to wiping out international terrorism that would work if we were not constrained by legal, moral, and humanitarian considerations. And then, given that we do operate under such constraints, he offers a series of proposals that would effectively reduce the frequency and severity of international terrorism by striking a balance between security and liberty.

Dershowitz and a distinguished group of politicians, journalists, artists, and religious leaders pay tribute to the Jewish state, highlighting their personal connections to Israel''s history, land, people, politics, and faith.

Millions of Americans were baffled and outraged by the U.S. Supreme Court''s role in deciding the presidential election of 2000 with its controversial ruling in Bush v. Gore. The Court had held a unique place in our system of checks and balances, seen as the embodiment of fairness and principle precisely because it was perceived to be above the political fray. How could it now issue a decision that reeked of partisan politics, and send to the White House a candidate who may have actually lost the election? In Supreme Injustice, best-selling author and legal expert Alan M. Dershowitz addresses these questions head-on, at last demystifying Bush v. Gore for those who are still angered by the court''s decision but unclear about its meaning. Dershowitz--himself a former Supreme Court clerk--argues that in this case for the first time, the court''s majority let its desire for a particular partisan outcome have priority over legal principles. As in his other bestselling books, Dershowitz clarifies complex legal issues, explaining concepts such as "equal protection" and "irreparable harm." Digging deeply into their earlier writings and rulings, Dershowitz proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the justices who gave George W. Bush the presidency contradicted their previous positions to do so. The most egregious ruling since the Dred Scott Decision, Bush v. Gore has shattered the image of the Supreme Court as a fair and impartial arbiter of important national issues. The resulting loss of the American people''s respect, Dershowitz concludes, has severely compromised the Court''s role in national affairs. And yet Dershowitz sees some benefit emerging from this constitutional crisis--if we understand its lessons and take action to prevent it from happening again.

Porn, whatever it is, shows no link to rape -- Press is punished for doing its job -- Testing the police for drugs -- The Rise of the "hanging jury" -- Flying past the Fourth Amendment -- The New High Court: our best nineteenth-century minds -- The Senate should not rubber-stamp judges -- Cigarette pushers have rights, too -- Who really killed John Belushi? -- Should we let pregnant women smoke and drink? -- Give Zakharov his rights--even if it''s not fair -- Don''t look for big shifts at the High Court--yet -- The Price of a life depends on the color of the skin -- Tortured reasoning, executed prisoners -- Supreme Court is not the "people''s court" -- Judges should be a breed apart -- Judge was pioneer, conscience of the nation -- Impeachment: for emergency use only -- The Fifth Amendment: it''s all the rage this year -- Insiders and the evil intentions of the small investor -- Smoking at someone else should be a crime -- Defending a terrorist: more than just a bad dream --

This phrase, heard countless times every day in American courtrooms across the country, sets forth the burden of proof placed upon the prosecution in a criminal trial. Yet this cherished principle is not mentioned in the Constitution, nor is it defined by any laws. What, then, does “beyond a reasonable doubt” really mean, and how should it be interpreted and applied? In Beyond a Reasonable Doubt more than 80 distinguished contributors reflect on what this standard really means and how it is applied. Brilliantly dissecting its meaning from every angle, attorneys, judges, novelists, journalists, religious leaders and convicted felons shine a light on the most compelling standard in our legal system.

"In our current age of hyper-partisan politics, nearly everyone takes sides. This is especially true with regard to the Trump presidency ... For Trump zealots, their president has not only committed no crimes, he has done nothing wrong. For anti-Trump zealots, nothing Trump has done--even in foreign policy--is good. Everything he has done is wrong, and since it is wrong, it must necessarily be criminal. This deeply undemocratic fallacy--that political sins must be investigated and prosecuted as criminal--is [a] ... dangerous trend. Hardening positions on both sides has been manifested by increasing demands to criminalize political differences"--Publisher description.

The greatest danger the world faces in the twenty-first century is an Iranian nuclear arsenal. That is why decisions regarding Iran''s nuclear program may be the most important of our time. The negotiations that led to this bad deal were deeply flawed. But it doesn''t follow that the deal should be rejected by Congress. If the President is right that rejecting this deal will be worse than accepting, then he has put us in the terrible position of choosing between bad and worse. In The Case Against the Iran Deal: How Can We Stop Iran From Getting Nukes?, Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz evaluates the pros and cons of the Iran nuclear agreement. He asks the fundamental questions about what the deal means, how it will be implemented, and whether we now have the capacity to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. As a lawyer with decades of negotiation experience, and a regular commentator on Middle Eastern politics, Dershowitz explains how we could have gotten a better deal, and offers a unique analysis of the Obama administration''s negotiations with Iran and the implications of a deal for Israel, the Middle East, and the global community. It is a call for both intelligent reflection and for determined action to stop Iran from getting the bomb. The clock is ticking. We must find ways to repair the damage this deal threatens to do. This book proposes solutions along with its constructive criticism.

One of America''s leading attorneys offers an impassioned defense of the state of Israel, arguing that, although the country is not perfect, it remains the only outpost of democracy in the Middle East, answering critics who accuse Israel of being an imperialist power and documenting the facts about the nature of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. 150,000 first printing.