Marshall's life encompasses the violent years of the great black migration out of the postbellum South; the years of power wielded by the Ku Klux Klan and later the White Citizens Councils; the years of the Great Depression and of economic recovery forged by Franklin D. Roosevelt and a world war; a postwar black revolution in both the courtrooms and the streets of America; and a counterrevolution led by politicians determined to "break every dream of liberty that Marshall and black Americans ever embraced." Chapters portray the legal events and societal responses inaugurated by Marshall as the lead counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was the legal strategist for the NAACP's efforts to ensure blacks voting rights and educational opportunities equal to those of whites. He successfully argued the case of Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court in 1957 and was himself appointed to the Supreme Court by President Johnson in 1967. This book profiles his decisions on the Supreme Court in the areas of affirmative action, the death penalty, First Amendment freedoms, abortion, privacy, women's rights, and racism, along with his underlying judicial philosophy. The book concludes with discussions of Marshall's disillusionment and retirement, followed by a review of the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and an assessment of Marshall's achievements. A 57-item bibliography and a subject index