Against the Union

Leonard W. Levy, New York Times, February 21, 1982.

Excerpt:

Storing’s ”The Complete Anti-Federalist” is a work of magnificent scholarship, the first collection to include all of the substantial Anti-Federalist writings unabridged and in accurate text. Publication of these volumes is a civic event of enduring importance. For those who cannot afford the entire set, the University of Chicago Press has published the first volume as an inexpensive paperback, ”What the Anti-Federalists Were For.” This volume is Storing’s introduction to Anti-Federalist political thought and ranks with Cecelia Kenyon’s superb introduction to her one-volume collection, ”The Anti-Federalists.” Volume 7 of Storing’s edition is an excellent index. Volumes 2 through 6 comprise the Anti-Federalist documents, arranged roughly in the sequence of their appearance in the debate over ratification. Storing introduces each document, sometimes with just a brief headnote, often with an essay offering information about the author, the history and importance of his statement and a summary of its contents. Storing extensively annotates the documents. He identifies quotations and references made by the authors and provides his own elaborate cross-references to other Anti-Federalist and Federalist writings.

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