Publisher Description
The Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the Scopes Trial and the battle over evolution and creation in America’s schools
In the summer of 1925, the sleepy hamlet of Dayton, Tennessee, became the setting for one of the twentieth century’s most contentious courtroom dramas, pitting William Jennings Bryan and the anti-Darwinists against a teacher named John Scopes, represented by Clarence Darrow and the ACLU, in a famous debate over science, religion, and their place in public education. That trial marked the start of a battle that continues to this day-in cities and states throughout the country.
Edward Larson’s classic Summer for the Gods — winner of the Pulitzer Prize in History — is the single most authoritative account of this pivotal event. An afterword assesses the state of the battle between creationism and evolution, and points the way to how it might potentially be resolved.
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Larson’s work is a thoroughly researched, thoroughly readable retelling
of the tale. It leaves no subplot or character untouched. And when one
considers how powerful the tensions underlying events 72 years ago
remain today, Larson deserves hearty thanks. He’s reintroducing us to
vital history that too quickly transformed into fiction and myth. . . .
The Scopes trial is still with us. Larson has elevated its presence from
simplified myth to illuminating fact.—
Christian Science MonitorÂ