The Tenth Seat - Steven Glazer - Bog

Much has been said in political news lately about "packing" the U.S. Supreme Court with additional Justices besides the present nine. This is nothing new in the history of the Court. Congress has changed the number to as few as six and as many as ten. This novel is based on the life story of Stephen Johnson Field, the only tenth Justice to have ever served on the Supreme Court, who served from his 1863 appointment by President Abraham Lincoln until 1897.
Field is the second longest-serving Justice on the Court (William O. Douglas served the longest). He left his legal practice in New York City for the California Gold Rush of 1849 and practiced law in California during the wild early days of the Golden State. He became its Chief Justice only ten years after starting his law practice there, and was elevated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Abraham Lincoln only eight years later.

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Winner of Honorable Mention for Fiction at the Hollywood Book Festival, 2023

"Having been a judge himself, Glazer, in his first novel, explores the life of Field, his judicial mindset, and how some of the decisions in which he took part shaped the course of American history."

-- Hon. John Dring, senior counsel in energy regulation at Vinson & Elkins LLP and former Administrative Law Judge, writing in Washington Lawyer Magazine

"Fist-fights, brandished pistols, and a fatal second duel all enliven the Field saga. In a nice counterpoint to the novel, those events are completely factual. Glazer, obviously a lawyer and almost as obviously a judge, unearths historical facts and animates them through fictitious dialogue that draws the reader in."

--Robert M. Snider, administrative hearing officer in Southern California and retired California Deputy Attorney General, writing in Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine