Summer For The Gods The Scopes Trial & Americas Continuing Debate Over Science & Religion

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in History

The Scopes "Monkey Trial" marked a watershed in our national discussion of science and religion. In addition to symbolizing the clash between evolutionist and creationist camps, the trial helped shape the development of both popular religion and constitutional law in the United States, serving as a precedent for more recent legal and political battles. Pairing new archival material from both the Bryan prosecution and the Darrow defense with Larson's keen historical and legal analysis, Summer for the Gods offers a fresh interpretation of a pivotal event in American history.

"Bryan's and Darrow's ghosts still haunt us, and the Scopes trial still holds resonance, as we continue to litigate the role of religion and public life and the power of the state to prescribe what shall be taught in public schools. Read Summer for the Gods for that well-told story." Rodney A. Smolla, New York Times Book Review

"This book has already won a Pulitzer Prize, but it's worth calling attention to again...Larson...finds new things to say about the famous 'monkey trial' of 1925 and says them well. Among other things, he shows how the trial helped to break down the longstanding intellectual accommodation between Darwinism and Protestant theology, highlights the tensions between celebrity lawyer Clarence Darrow and the rest of John Scopes's defense team, and demonstrates how the enormously influential drama Inherit the Wind significantly warped the trial and its aftermath." Luther Spoehr, Providence Journal-Bulletin

Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-305) and index.

Edward J. Larson is Professor of History and Law at the University of Georgia.

Preface

Introduction

PART I: BEFORE…

1. Digging Up Controversy

2. Government by the People

3. In Defense of Individual Liberty

PART II: …DURING…

4. Choosing Sides

5. Jockeying for Position

6. Preliminary Rounds

7. The Trial of the Century

PART III: …AND AFTER

8. The End of an Era

9. Retelling the Tale

10. Distant Echoes

Notes

Index