"The prizewinning author of Founding Brothers and American Sphinx now gives us the unexpected story of why the thirteen colonies, having just fought off the imposition of a distant centralized governing power, would decide to subordinate themselves anew. The Quartet is the story of this second American founding and of the men responsible-- some familiar, such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, and some less so, such as Robert Morris and Governeur Morris. It was these men who shaped the contours of American history by diagnosing the systemic dysfunctions created by the Articles of Confederation, manipulating the political process to force a calling of the Constitutional Convention, conspiring to set the agenda in Philadelphia, orchestrating the debate in the state ratifying conventions, and, finally, drafting the Bill of Rights to assure state compliance with the constitutional settlement"-- Provided by publisher.

"A Borzoi book"--Title page verso.

Preface : Pluribus to Unum -- The Articles and the Vision -- The Financier and the Prodigy -- The Domain -- The Courting -- Madison's Moment -- The Great Debate -- The Final Pieces -- Appendices.