Edward S. Corwin (1878–1963) is widely recognized as the most eminent commentator on the Constitution in our century. Largely because Corwin died before he could write the single definitive work he had planned, the political scientist Richard Loss has spent over a decade compiling and editing a three-volume collection of Corwin's major essays.

Loss has chosen twelve essays for the final volume that state Corwin's arguments in political thought and constitutional law. They are responsive to the theme of limitations on governmental power. The editor has organized the essays under the headings "The Limits of Governmental Power over Property and Business," "Governmental Action and Personal and Social Rights," and "A Nation and the States." He has also included Corwin's spirited and previously unpublished address "The New Deal in the Light of American Political and Constitutional Ideas."