Solomon's Sword: Two Families and the Children the State Took Away

In an era when headlines often seem dominated by horrific stories about abused children, Solomon's Sword weaves together the elements of two painful custody battles into a memorable book that no reader who cares about children will be able to put aside. In examining collisions between children, parents, and the law, Shapiro meets judges, lawyers, social workers, clergy, and therapists who must advocate a course of action in thousands of cases each year across America. Reading about these dedicated people, professionals in the vanguard of new approaches to the problem of mistreated children, will leave readers hopeful that we are finally learning how to ameliorate this enduring national disgrace. Solomon's Sword sheds new light on a dire social problem in a powerful book that will influence public policy for years to come.

A prize-winning investigative journalist illuminates the often problematic relationship between the child's best interest and the best intentions of child welfare agencies, policymakers, and the courts

Michael Shapiro's work has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, the Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times Magazine. The author of three previous books, he teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and lives in New York with his wife, Susan Chira, and their two children.