<blockquote> <p> A provocative exploration of justice in our time through fresh readings of Shakespeare's greatest plays </p> </blockquote> <p> Celebrated legal scholar Kenji Yoshino's first book, <i>Covering</i>, was acclaimed?from the <i>New York Times Book Review</i> to <i>O, The Oprah Magazine</i> to the <i>American Lawyer</i>?for its elegant prose, its good humor, and its brilliant insights into civil rights and discrimination law. Now, in <i>A Thousand Times More Fair</i>, Yoshino turns his attention to the broad question of what makes a fair and just society, and he delves deep into a surprising source to answer it: Shakespeare's greatest plays. </p> <p> An enormously creative and provocative book, <i>A Thousand Times More Fair</i> addresses fundamental questions we ask about our world today: Why is the rule of law better than revenge? How much mercy should we show a wrongdoer? What does it mean to "prove" guilt or innocence? As Yoshino argues, a searching examination of Shakespeare's plays?and the many advocates, judges, criminals, and vigilantes who populate them?can elucidate some of the most troubling issues in contemporary life. </p> <p> With a great ear for Shakespeare and an eye trained steadily on current affairs, Yoshino considers how competing models of judging presented in <i>Measure for Measure</i> resurfaced around the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor; how the revenge cycle of <i>Titus Andronicus</i> illuminates the "war on terror" and our military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq; how the white handkerchief in <i>Othello</i> and the black glove in the O. J. Simpson trial reflect forms of proof that overwhelm all other evidence; and how the spectacle of an omnipotent ruler voluntarily surrendering power in <i>The Tempest</i>, as Cincinnatus did before him and George Washington did after him, informs regime change in our own time. </p> <p> <i>A Thousand Times More Fair</i> is an altogether original book about Shakespeare and the law, and an ideal starting point to explore the nature of a just society?and our own. </p>