Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir 

Combining his experiences as a law clerk and prominent litigator with decades of service on the bench, retired Supreme Court Justice Stevens provides in-depth examinations of the five most recent chief justices and offers histories of the careers and legacies of the previous 12 men and women to hold that office. In this audio edition, Gregory Itzin captures Stevens’s dignified, unassuming manner while matching the book’s tonal shifts; earlier passages are rather academic and professorial while sections in which Stevens recounts the polarization of the court—particularly in regard to hot-button cases such as the disputed 2000 presidential election, gun control, and campaign-finance reform—are considerably more passionate and candid. Itzin’s rendering of the author’s memories of Thurgood Marshall and his civil rights legacy are particularly poignant. And while some listeners may be confused by the book’s legal and technical language, those with a grounding in legal history will find this a compelling listen. A Little, Brown hardcover. (Oct.)