Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion Reviews

• The most publicized misdemeanor case in American history

  
  By AUHG8KSHI529U on 2003-06-14
  Edward Larson has accomplished something wonderful with this book. In only 266 pages (318 including footnotes and index), he has captured the flow of cultural issues surrounding science, education, and religion in the early twentieth century, the political goals and maneuvering of the parties involved, the actual Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee with the dénouement of the appeal, the falsifying of the events involved in the popular culture, and the ongoing cultural impact of the issues involved in this trial.

  As I read I found myself marveling at how Larson so richly captures the cultural forces coming together like tectonic plates and crashing into the Scopes trial. I haven't seen as fair a treatment of the issues involved for all the varying parties (there were many more self-interested folks than Darrow and Bryan) on any other subject. To have that time before the trial captured in such a beautiful way is very valuable.

  As others have noted, the notion of the trial started as a publicity stunt to promote the hard luck town of Dayton, TN. The ACLU wanted a narrowly defined test case to overturn the laws forbidding the teaching of evolution. Darrow and his crowd wanted to attack religion more than work out the civil liberties issues involved, Bryan cared more about the rights of the parents as taxpayers to control what their children were taught. Remember, universal public education was still a rather new thing in 1925 and parents then, as now, want to have the education support them in raising their children. The education establishment then, as now, feels a responsibility to teach what they think best.

  Bryan and many others were also concerned about the political uses to which evolution had recently been put in the name of survival of the fittest. It isn't a simple issue and shouldn't be turned into a cartoon. Especially since we are in some ways still grappling with these issues.

  Yes, Bryan was also a Fundamentalist (although some were more Fundamental than him because he didn't insist on the strict 6 days of 24 hours for the Creation), but imposing that belief wasn't his goal.

  Clarifying the truth of the trial versus the popular perceptions in our culture provided by "Only Yesterday" and "Inherit the Wind" is a very valuable service provided by this book. However, the culture seems to want the oversimplification and distortions of "Inherit the Wind" more than the truth of Scopes being a willing participant in a test case more or less on a lark. Or that Scopes never really "taught" evolution. He had used the textbook provided to him by the school and it discussed evolution, but he may never have gotten to that section since he wasn't the regular biology teacher. He taught physics, math, and football and was substituting in the biology class.

  The book has a number of very nice pictures that also help capture the period of the trial and the characters involved.

  One especially small quibble is that the book does not address the difference between the anti-clerical activities in Great Britain and their political nature because of the state power of the Church and the anti-clerical activities in the United States that were really anti-religion. In fact, a great deal of the fundamentalist backlash against evolution came out of this anti-religion sentiment.

  I think it a reasonable view to say that most of the reaction against evolution wasn't from a considered rejection of the theory, but a reaction against being attacked by those who wanted to free America of religion. We didn't have a state church, although most in power were also believers (or publicly posed as believers). The anti-clerical movement was transplanted but to somewhat different effect here than in Europe where evolution was not seen as necessarily inconsistent with Faith (as it has become to be viewed here). But this is a trivial point compared to many wonderful insights this book provides.
  
  

• Monkey Myths

  
  By A2I8L9LTD1LQHX on 2002-07-13
  It is incredibly ironic that the Scopes trial, promised by both the prosecution and the defense to be a battle for the truth, is represented in popular & religious culture and, most unfortunately, taught in classrooms in a largely false manner. This book won the Pulitzer Prize in History for good reason; it is the first (and best) attempt to accurately reflect not only the Scopes trial but also the events before it and the three-quarters worth of a century that followed.

  As one who fell asleep while trying to watch "Inherit the Wind," I find the truth far more rivetting. The bredth of the defense team.. and the strong convictions and performances of Arthur Garfield Hays and Dudley Field Moore are entirely bypassed in popular history.

  The only fault with the work is Larson's apparent effort to be so objective that no one is offended. This causes him to refrain from defending Darrow from years of attacks for his "cross-examination" (outside the presence of the jury and ultimately stricken from the record) of Bryan. The prosecution-- and Bryan in particular-- had promised/threatened/guaranteed a showdown.. to prove that evolution was false, especially if one accepts a literal reading of the bible. The reason Bryan was called to the stand and Darrow was able to question him as he did without the jury present is because the PROSECUTION changed strategies. Unable to find a single competent scientist to support its view, the prosecution was forced to argue against Malone's efforts to show that christianity and evolution were compatable. By keeping out the evidence of the defense's religious and scientific experts, the only defense left was to demostrate the absurdity of Bryan particular views. Though Darrow no doubt enjoyed it, his treatment of Bryan was the third line of defense, not the first.

  The manipulation of the facts surrounding Scopes and a rise in the number of so-called scientists pushing creationism demonstrates that, in spite of our supposed rapid intellectual growth as a nation, there are more individuals than ever willing to say, do, or believe whatever will give them control, power, or money. It is a shame that after more than 75 years, Bryan would today have no trouble finding an "expert" witness.
  
  

• No more monkeying with history

  
  By on 1999-03-31
  It's one of the defining scenes of our century. The young science teacher, John Scopes, is chased from his class by a rabid bunch of anti-evolutionists. He's thrown in jail and a show trial is set up to punish him. Then Clarence Darrow arrives ... the white knight for science and rationalism. In a brilliant oration he destroys the older fundamentalist, William Jennings Bryan, exposing him as a fool and winning the case, making the world free for evolution. One small problem.

  The truth is nothing like that happy story. What you're thinking of is the plot of Inheirit the Wind, a second-rate movie that used the Scopes trial to dramatize the McCarthy hearings. Spencer Tracy and Gene Kelley weren't in Dayton for the trial, and what really happened was far from black and white.

  But in the hands of Edward Larson, it's also far more interesting. Larson's book, Summer for the Gods is a brialliantly reasoned look at what led to the trial, the trial itself, and its continuing impact on society. (Okay, on American society ... but it's still interesting.) Larson manages a tremendously difficult task: he manages to be unbiased and dispassionate without becoming dull. And he walks the line masterfully. There were times when I couldn't honestly say whose "side" Larson was on ... which is kind of the point. I read a lot of history, and it's very seldom I come across something that's so even-handed. Which would be a triumph in itself, even if it weren't so darn readable. For the rest of the review, visit my web page at exn.net/printedmatter
  
  

• The Monkey Myths

  
  By on 2002-06-13
  It is incredibly ironic that the Scopes trial, promised by both the prosecution and the defense to be a battle for the truth, is represented in popular & religious culture and, most unfortunately, taught in classrooms in a largely false manner. This book won the Pulitzer Prize in History for good reason; it is the first (and best) attempt to accurately reflect not only the Scopes trial but also the events before it and the three-quarters worth of a century that followed.

  As one who fell asleep while trying to watch "Inherit the Wind," I find the truth far more rivetting. The bredth of the defense team.. and the strong convictions and performances of Arthur Garfield Hays and Dudley Field Moore are entirely bypassed in popular history.

  The only fault with the work is Larson's apparent effort to be so objective that no one is offended. This causes him to refrain from defending Darrow from years of attacks for his "cross-examination" (outside the presence of the jury and ultimately stricken from the record) of Bryan. The prosecution-- and Bryan in particular-- had promised/threatened/guaranteed a showdown.. to prove that evolution was false, especially if one accepts a literal reading of the bible. The reason Bryan was called to the stand and Darrow was able to question him as he did without the jury present is because the PROSECUTION changed strategies. Unable to find a single competent scientist to support its view, the prosecution was forced to argue against Malone's efforts to show that christianity and evolution were compatable. By keeping out the evidence of the defense's religious and scientific experts, the only defense left was to demostrate the absurdity of Bryan particular views. Though Darrow no doubt enjoyed it, his treatment of Bryan was the third line of defense, not the first.

  The manipulation of the facts surrounding Scopes and a rise in the number of so-called scientists pushing creationism demonstrates that, in spite of our supposed rapid intellectual growth as a nation, there are more individuals than ever willing to say, do, or believe whatever will give them control, power, or money. It is a shame that after more than 75 years, Bryan would today have no trouble finding an "expert" witness.
  
  

• Well-written and insightful

  
  By AD8BCAKIG8E00 on 1998-05-12
  The Scopes trial has become mythical; Larson demonstrates the difference between myth and reality. The book is well-written, insightful, and well researched, drawing on obscure Tennessee Bar Association documents and other sources ignored by many other writers. An excellent book.
  
  
• Pulitzer Prize-winner, and deservedly so
  By A3BV9E9XSA4Z73 on 2001-03-06
  

  The Scopes Monkey Trial of July, 1925 must surely be one of the most misunderstood events in American history.
  Numerous school district reading lists (on the Internet) describe the play/film "Inherit the Wind" as though it were an historically accurate account of the trial.
  Worse yet, an American professor of law, interviewed by Australian radio station ABC Radio National, in March 1999 (transcript is on the Internet) managed to get wrong:
  The way in which Scopes became involved
  The length of the trial
  How Bryan and Darrow got involved
  And even the decade ion which the US Supreme Court handed down the Arkansas decision on the constitutionality of teaching creationism!

  So thank the Lord and pass Edward Larson's "Summer for the Gods", a supreme work of scholarship, yet written in the kind of high-readability style of a John Grisham thriller.

  The only other attempt to make a thorough, FACTUAL study of the Scopes Trial was Ray Ginger's 1958 book "Six Days or Forever?". Unfortunately the validity of that earlier work was seriously undermined by Ginger's very obvious bias, especially against William Jennings Bryan.

  Larson's book suffers from no such flaws, as far as I can tell, treating both defense and prosecution in a thoroughly even-handed fashion. Having said that, Larson does uncover the truth about several myths surrounding the trial - such as the "real" reason why the defense experts only gave their evidence in the form of affadavits.
  (It wasn't as simple as the Judge refusing to allow expert testimony.)

  There's much, much more I could say in praise of this book, but it all boils down to this:
  If you have any interest whatever in the Scopes Monkey Trial, you won't find a better book on the subject than this.
  
  

• Good book, but favors humanistic view
  By A18UBPBIKPQMPE on 2004-02-18
  Sadly, it is only too true that in modern-day America, to get a truly lucid view of facts and history one often has to look to secular scholars. In the past many of the greatest works, in any sphere of life or calling, were authored by men of biblical faith. For example, Issac Newton, a prolific writer on matters of science (and acknowledged as the greatest scientist who ever lived) actually devoted more words to commentary on the Bible. Therefore if one desires a truly comprehensive and fairly accurate account of the "Trial of the Century", this is a good book. No question about it.

  Nevertheless one must be prepared for the subtle bias throughout this work, in favor of the pro-humanist, pro-evolution cabal. For example this book contains a full-page photograph of Clarence Darrow (who was, after all, only a lawyer) and no photograph at all of William Jennings Bryan, who was one of the greatest statesman (regardless of one's opinion of the man) of his time.

  Dr. Larson correctly points out that the trial was part of the struggle between a "majoritarian" vs. "individual rights" interpretation of our constitution. The indivdual rights interpretation is dominant today, but that doesn't necessarily make it right. You wouldn't know that from reading this book.

  As I write this review I have on my desk the results of an ABC News poll, released 02/15/04, that demonstrated 61% of all Americans believe God created the world in six literal 24-hour days. Read this book for a good and accurate account of the Scopes trial but don't be lured in by Mr. Larson's patronizing insinuations that any American who believes in the Biblical account of creation is not only half-witted, but in the minority. Facts (like those revealed in the ABC poll) are troublesome things Dr. Larson.
  
  

• Balanced and accurate account of Monkey Trial
  By on 1999-10-13
  A very well written account of not only the historical aspect of but also the legacy of the Scopes trial. I thoroughly enjoyed every page of the book. Edward Larson writes in a style that is easy to follow and understandable. He divides the book into three sections: Before, during and after the trial. In each section he guides and lays out the historical background of the events and players involved in the Scopes trial. He begins with Darwin and the Origin of Species and lays out how it developed into a controversy in the States. He also introduces to us all the major players involved in the case. He does not simply bring the players in for the trial, but helps us to understand who they are with their background information. He does a very good job of helping the readers grasp the agendas as well as emotions and agendas that each players brought to the trials. He has made me understand the Scopes trial in a much better light.

  In 1925, Tennessee passed a law banning the teaching of human evolution in public schools. The ACLU quickly jumped in with their agenda of individual freedom. Dayton jumped in with getting their name placed on the map. Bryan got involved with majoritarianism and Christian fundamentalism. The scientists got involved with academic freedom. Darrow got involved with ridding America of bigots. Scopes got caught in the middle of all this. In the end, Larson writes that both sides achieved moral victory.

  In the last section of his book, Larson covers the legacy and the legend of Scopes trial in the American cultural scene. He clearly lays out that Only Yesterday and Inherit the Wind provided false impression of the Scopes trial on the minds of American public for over half a century. However, he states that it was not only Broadway that added to the false impression but also both historians and academians who further fueled the false impression of the Scopes trial. He states that it is these false impressions that have contributed to the ongoing culture war between science and religion.

  No historian or writer can be truly objective. Given that, I believe that Larson has written an objective account of the Scopes trial as is possible. I did not get the feeling that he was writing for or against either side. If Larson had an agenda or a bias in writing this book, it appeared to me that he wanted to put out a more balanced account of the Scopes trial than the one proposed by Only Yesterday and Inherit the Wind (although I personally have not seen either of the plays or screen version of them). He saw the Hollywood, the media and the academia misunderstanding the central issue of the Scopes trial from Inherit the Wind, and it appeared that he wanted to write a more accurate account of the trial. To me, it appeared that he did so. He seemed to have done an extensive research of biographies, newspaper accounts and interviews. He cites and critiques many accounts of the trial on both sides. He also critiques and provides his own analysis of the players involved in the trial. I believe that Summer for the Gods is a well balanced account of the Scopes trial and should be read by all who are interested in the continuing debate over science and religion in America.
  
  

• Making Monkeys Out of Americans
  By A1BZOAM350RM6T on 2003-05-07
  This the ultimate book on the Scopes trail and its depressing impact upon the US. If you are expecting a straight read about the forces of repression and ignorance battling the forces of science, reason, and tolerance you will be sadly disappointed. The Scopes trail had nothing to do with basic biology. It was a battle of lawyers, made for and persued by them for their own, at times rather personal motives.

  This books chronicles the advent of trial in the Chemists Shop in Dayton Tenessee when a few leading citizens --- neither clever or passionate Darwinians, nor particularly blathering, foaming at the mouth fundamentalists --- unabashed opportunists who wanted to put an declining town on the map with the trial of the century. Scopes over sodas with both sides decides that he will "have a go" at making it a test case as to whether evolution can be taught in Tennessee -- so much for the repression.

  From these humble beginnings starts a third rate farce with everyone wanting to get in on the act. Some were legitimate entities, such as the ACLU lawyers -- very dedicated and committed people -- perhaps the true heros of this saga. But others such as Darrow and Bryan, although obviously acting from deeply held emotions offered no basis to defend their beliefs. Darrow offerred little evidence of what we would know as natural selection, and Bryan could not defend his belief in a Biblical interpretation of the creation ofthe earth as given in Genesis.

  The real argument became a legal one with Bryan defending the rights of the majority to teach whatever taxpayers thought they wanted to teach (whether it was correct or not!), majoritism, and Darrow defending the right of people to teach scientific based education, because it was unreasonable to teach majority held opinion if it was at odds with elementary understandings of Science. And this is where the debaters dug in their heels.

  Bryan, nor anyone else, could prove that Genesis was true. Darrow could prove evolution, but that did not make him correct if the majority of people, choosing ignorance over fact, chose not to believe it.

  The book does a good job at describing the minutea of the defence and cross-exacmination, the legal cases of both sides, and the trail itself. It also does a good job in describing the pre and post Scopes legal challenges launched by both causes in America.

  Although the creationists were plain wrong, this is not a simple story of the light of science versus a bunch of southern rednecks. There are a lot of interesting vignettes: although Bryan did defend his idea of bible creationism, he was also worried about the evolving "science" of Eugenics and he rightly forsaw the potential to use evolution to relegate people into different classes as result of "proper" and "improper" breeding; some Southern Black churches also defended the prosecution on similar grounds. This was just the beginning of the hayday of Eugenics and Naziism, where transmogrified understandings of Evolution underwrote some horrible ideologies.

  This book took the Pulitzer in History. It is not that good in my estimation. Fair and well researched, yes, but at times the narrative drags as Larson gets bogged down in legal historical details (such as the chapter called "Jockeying for Position"). Larson is a lawyer and confines himself to law and history. There is no review of natural selection as it was then interpreted, and, as Larson points out, Darrow had only a vague notion of its intrisic reasonableness. Darrow actually cited and conducted the trail on a largely (mistaken) notion of Lamarkian evolution --- a common enough mistake -- still.

  This is a book that I enjoyed, but it didn't set my heart racing. It offers an depressing read on the quintessentially American experience: how a society relatively free, a bastion of most scientific enlightenment and knowledge can allow such ignorance of science to the degree that people actually believe in a literal interpretation of Biblical allegory in the 20th and the 21st Century....and how Americans can allow both to be exploited for political grandstanding.
  
  

• Excellent
  By A2UIXU97JYCPZG on 2005-09-21
  This Pulitzer Prize winning book is a careful attempt to dispell the myths surrounding the Scopes Trial. As Larson points out, these misconceptions stem largely from popular accounts of the trial, such as the play Inherit The Wind, which tend to present the conflict as one between dogmatic and oppressive fundamentalist religion and enlightened liberal rationalism. History, as usual, is much more complex, as shown in the nuanced and fair minded account. The book is essentially divided into 3 parts; a description and analysis of the social and intellectual currents that lead to the trial, a narrative of the trial itself, and an account of the short-term and long-term impact of the trial.
  All sections are very well written with ample documentation from primary sources and a nice combination of the author's narrative and quotations. This book is relatively short but covers all the important features and a lot of telling detail in thorough manner. Perhaps the most interesting portions are the initial chapters describing the genesis of the trial. Far from being a straightforward conflict between dogmatic religion and liberal rationalism, the trial occurred because of a nexus of semi-independent currents. One important feature was the existence of strong conflicts within American Protestantism between so-called modernizers and more traditional elements, though these traditional elements developed some aspects of a more radical reaction. The foes of evolution were far from dogmatic literalists. William Jennings Bryan, for example, espoused non-literal interpretations of key aspects of Scripture and a theistic view of evolution, several of whose key features he accepted as true. Bryan and many of his allies were driven by concerns that evolution related doctrines, such as Social Darwinism, were anti-democratic. They were concerned, however, that materialist doctrines like evolution were undermining the status of religion and a source of moral corruption. Bryan was concerned also with majoritarian views on public education, consistent with his long-standing populism. At the same time, the trial occurred at a time when the scientific community was becoming increasingly convinced of the validity of Darwinian positions, fueled by recent developments in genetics and paleontology. The consolidation of the scientific consensus did narrow the ground on which scientists could meet religion. The trial was mounted as test case by the nascent ACLU, which was concerned less with the religous aspects than with its efforts to expand 1st amendment rights and academic freedom. In some respects, the Scopes Trial was less a conflict between right and left than a family feud between different components of the Progressive movement that had fractured during WWI. The ACLU underwrote both prosecution and defense expenses and the trial was conducted in a relatively collegial atmosphere. Contrary to the impression from Inherit The Wind, if anyone succeeded, its was the anti-evolution side as the trial was followed by anti-evolution statutes in other southern states and revision of high school biology texts to soft-pedal evolution.
  Larson closes by discussing how some themes of the Scopes Trial persist in our society. Again, this is a even handed discussion. Evangelical concerns about the corrupting effects of materialist ideas continue, and again, there is some sense among evangelicals that basic principles are under siege. A point not mentioned by Larson is that research of the last 20-30 years has strongly supported crucial features of evolutionary theory and the theory is much stronger and more complete than it was in 1920s. Entangled with these issues are perennial American conflicts over majority rule versus minority rights and what constitutes the boundaries of free speech and academic freedom.
  
  
• Very well researched, mostly unbiased
  By A10T0OW97SFBB on 2005-12-24
  I had to do a research project on the Scopes Trial last year, among the 30+ resources I consulted, this was by far the best. Larson did what many others failed to do: he went back far enough. Many other books on this topic tend to give only a brief background to this trial, but Larson traces the devlopments of fundamentalism and the ALCU, as well as the creation/evolution debate.
  
  This whole trial is very fun to study, and shows the fallability of both sides in the trial. The rich language makes it very enjoyable to read the interiews and court speeches which one would have thought would be very boring. Lots of hell talk and heated discussion, and not a few insults were hurled back and forth. All in all, a very interesting read, and some good history to know, with culture being given an EXTREMELY distorted version of the trial in Lee's "Inherit the Wind," a truly awful representation of the trial, which has almost no historical base.
  
  
• "...A trivial thing full of humbuggery and hyprocrisy"
  By A292YWWNFVSIWY on 2006-09-10
  The Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 combined two great American virtues: 1.) Individual Rights and 2.) The need to make a quick buck. One of the aspects of Larson's book that really comes through is how staged the whole trial was. From the initial meeting of the town fathers with Scopes to convince him to be a Defendant, to the State's decision to nolle prosse the conviction after it was overturned on a technicality, most everything was merely thespian. One of the most insightful stories that Larson relates is when the team of ACLU defense lawyers arrived in Dayton for trial preparation, a young man started to help them with their luggage out of the trunk. One of the lawyers shouted: "Hey boy, what are you doing with those suitcases!" Little did the lawyer know that that boy was John Scopes, the teacher that was charged with teaching evolution in a Tennessee public school. As Larson writes: "The defenders, along with everyone else, had forgotten the defendant." The author writes in this great concise book that the Scopes Monkey trial was less about Scopes, Darrow or Bryan and more about emerging fundamentalism versus a growing American concern of individual rights and liberties. As such, Dayton and John Scopes were essentially bit players in a staged battle between forces that still determine how Americans feel and think to this day. Not only does Larson concern himself with the broader sociological effects of the trial, he also talks about the ACLU's and the prosecutions trial strategy, which, as a lawyer, I found fascinating. Contemporary history has interpreted the Scopes Trial as the high water mark of Fundamentalism, being that the Butler Act and other similar legislation has been struck down as unconstitutional. "Summer" makes this very plain that this in fact was the opening salvo in the Fundamentalist battle and not the death throes. It is not a stretch to argue that the beginnings of the Mega-Church and the Fundamentalist college movement began in Dayton in 1925. Thus, as H.L. Mencken wrote that year: the fundamentalists and "Bryan started something that it will not be easy to stop."
  
  
• A lively and timely account of the Scopes Trial
  By AJODIMJX61856 on 1998-11-16
  Like many of my generation, I learned of the Scopes "Monkey" Trial through the Lawrence and Lee play, "Inherit the Wind." Edward J. Larson's Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion is a fine and lively historical account of the trial and its aftermath. Winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize, Larson's book sets the battle between fundamentalist religion and the "modern" science of Darwinism in both an historical and cultural context. In the 1920s, several states attempted to pass anti-evolution laws, and Tennessee finally succeeded in 1925. Thereafter, the ACLU found a test plaintiff in teacher John Scopes, and a test venue in the sleepy town of Dayton, Tennessee, which hoped to use the trial to "get on the map" and increase tourism. Using newspaper accounts, memoirs, and other contemporaneous sources, Larson displays in vivid detail both the seriousness and naivete of the battle between religion and science, William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. He also argues, convincingly for me, that the trial did not -- contrary to the Lawrence and Lee depiction -- leave Bryan a broken man (although he died within a week of the verdict). Going beyond the trial and its immediate aftermath, the final section of this book examines how later historians and writers -- including Lawrence and Lee -- have interpreted and often mis-interpreted the trial for later generations. In particular, Larson argues that "Inherit the Wind", like the Arthur Miller classic "The Crucible", must be viewed as both a product of and attack upon the McCarthy era of the 1950's. This is an insightful and enjoyable account.
  
  
• A good book, but NOT the definitive history
  By on 2000-11-27
  As all the other reviews will make clear to you, Larson has written a strong narrative history of the Scopes "Monkey Trial". It is a surprisingly timely issue, and this fact, and Larson's clear writing and apparent neutrality , won him a Pulitzer Prize against a strong field. The book is strongest in laying out a clear record of how the anti-evolution law came to be passed, and how the case was first brought to trial. His is the definitive work in this area,far surpassing earlier efforts. He makes clear that the trial was a farce, with the whole proceeding grossly biased against Scopes from the outset. Indeed, the verdict was overturned on appeal (so the correct answer to the trivia question is that Scopes was not convicted). Larson has many thoughtful things to say in his final summing up.
  
  The book has several weak points, however. The first is that some of the points are made, and better made, in other works. Stephen Jay Gould's occasional essays on the subject are clearer and better written, and touch the key issues more deeply. His essay on William Jennings Bryan is superior to the biography given by Larson. The trial scenes are not as well done as they could have been. This was a famous courtroom drama, but a reader of this book gets no sense of the excitement, and the most famous speeches are, at best, briefly summarized, instead of being quoted at length as they should have been. Clarence Darrow is treated very badly, and Mr. Larson's dislike of the man shines through from the beginning. These deficiencies are serious simply because the case, as a case, is of no importance.Legally it was a nullity. What was important about the Scopes case was the courtroom drama, and the writing that came out of it, including Mencken's writings, and Inherit the Wind. L Sprague De Camp wrote a book in the 1960s for high school students that captures the whole picture better than Larson's book.
  Also left out of the book is the strong Evangelical Christian tradition that came out of the trial, one that was no more accurate than Inherit the Wind, and which the Rev. Jerry Falwell for example, has cited as one of the most important influences on his education. Larson clearly feels that he is trimming against a pre-existing bias. I am not so sure. In any case, I recommend this book, but please also read the essays of Stephen Jay Gould, and Mencken, and some of the Evangelical documents as well. And of course, Inherit the Wind, a fictionalized account, to be sure, but a pretty fair one, for all that, and a more important work (and event) than the monkey trial itself ever was. I do recommend this book, for all of my reservations, and I recommend you read it quickly: in my area, the local libraries have already lost most of their copies. Get it while you can!
  
  
• Good Historical Review
  By A1RCHLAV2RIF1K on 2001-01-26
  Larson's book is an interesting historical review of the Monkey Trials and the events that led to it. As a history of the trial itself, the book is wanting. As a fan of Inherit the Wind, the legal confrontation between Darrow and Bryan was a prime reason for my picking the book in the first instance. However, Larson seems to concentrate more on the hows and whys of the trial rather than what actually happened.

  Where the book excels is in the description of the historical context of the trial and the results. For instance, the description of how the trial helped led to the development of both the ACLU and the Christian Right is a strength. Furthermore, the interplay between Darrow, who was not wanted by the ACLU, and the ACLU was fascinating. The bottom line is that Larson does a fine job of placing the Monkey Trial in the proper historical context.

  All in all, this was a good read. The writing is excellent and flows easily.
  
  

• Finally, a true accounting!
  By A2V1YF399FYYLE on 2001-07-25
  Inherit the Wind is good entertainment... but it's entertainment, and only loosely based on facts. Read this book, if you're interested in the true story of the Scopes trial.

  This book is roughly divided into 3 sections. 1., the time before the trial, political and social context, and the people involved. 2. The trial itself, and 3. after the trial, the appeals, and some comments on modern-day Dayton, TN.

  The background information is the largest section of this book, and is the most valuable. It's interesting to hear who William Jennings Bryan was as a person, how the ACLU became involved, the personalities of Scopes, Darrow, Bryan, as well as the other lawyers involved, the citizens of Dayton, and the judge. You will understand that contrary to the popular view that Scopes was harassed by the religious folk in town, he volunteered to take part, for the sole purpose of testing the anti-evolution law that had just hit the books. You will read how Darrow and Bryan both expanded the issues in the trial, so that religion and evolution became the focus of the trial, instead of simpler questions about what can be taught in school, and educational freedoms. The latter is what the ACLU was testing, although the former became the scope of the trial, much to their chagrin.

  The trial and wrap-ups were also interesting. I was a bit disappointed that the trial description was so short, relatively. I would have liked to read more transcripts of it, hence the 4 stars instead of 5.

  Overall, a fascinating and educational book, that is still relevant today. The issues discussed in the Scopes trial are prevalent in modern society, and played out daily in our classrooms.
  
  

• The New Authoritative Text
  By A2WO1UWI9E293C on 2000-01-15
  It seems strange that it would take seventy-five years for a book to be written to accurately depict the nature of the Scopes trial, but with the Creation-Evolution debate as strong as ever, perhaps boiling over in places in this nation, the text is received with gratitude.

  The tone is even handed. Denunciation of Bryan's childish religious beliefs is balanced by disclosure of Darrow's militant agnosticism. The true outcome and future implications of the trial are clearly detailed.

  This is a good antidote for any reader wildly devoted to either side of the issue. It is possible to read defeat into the side of creationists as separate universities were set up for the purpose of teaching fundamentalist Protestant views, but it must be noted that the trial was a moral victory for both. It was the culmination of contrary views building up since the late 1800s in this nation that affected dramatic action on both sides.
  
  

• A great story
  By A2P6M135RRV62R on 2001-09-04
  This is the story of the infamous Scopes trial (aka the monkey trial). It starts with a history of the event and the major players and then goes into a fairly detailed description of what happened and who said what (the trial was a huge event, bigger than OJ). It's funny the whole got started in an ice cream parlor. It is a great book, especially since some states are still struggling with teaching evolution. As somebody that is firmly in the evolution camp and finds the words "creation science" to be one of the world's best oxymorons, this book is quite humorous. The transcripts of Clarence Darrow grilling Bryan about the bible are worth the price of the book. Clarence Darrow would have been a really interesting man to meet. The trial took place in the 1920's and still today this is a relavent issue someplaces. I'd recommend this book to anybody, maybe not a super creationist but those guys would be too busy rereading the bible and filling web pages with gibberish to bother reading it.
  
  
• Good Historic Look at Scopes Trial
  By A3BT7PRPVH8HBI on 2005-08-24
  From an American perspective the 1925 Scopes "Monkey Trial" is often considered the trial of the twentieth century. It had colorful personalities, Charles Darrow (the famous trial lawyer) and William Jennings Bryan (former presidential candidate and noted progressive reformer) as well as issues that captured the imagination (science versus religion and majority rule versus individual rights). In "Summer For the Gods" legal historian Edward Larson accesses a variety of primary and secondary sources to re-examine the 1925 case and the myths that have grown up around it.
  
  One of the clear strengths of Larson's book is its discussion of the historical context of the Scopes case. His description of the social and political tensions that existed at the time is helpful in understanding the trail and its significance. The Scopes trial is often caricaturized in popular circles as a struggle between religious reactionaries on the one hand and supporters of scientific progress on the other hand. Although as Larson points out, there were certainly religious issues surrounding the case, it was prosecuted on the grounds of majority rule versus individual rights not the merits of evolutionary theory. Encouraged by the ACLU, the case was initiated by the defence - primarly as a publicity stunt.
  
  From my perspective, though always difficult, the historic reconstruction of the key characters seems reasonably balanced. In particular, Bryan's reputation has suffered as a result of the myths that have grown up around the trial. No doubt Bryan had his flaws, not the least of which was his love for the spotlight - which probably contributed to him agreeing to take the stand and speak outside his area of expertise. It is also clear that though Bryan was a Christian he was far from a raving reactionary. In fact, as students of history know Bryan was a progressive thinker and activist politician who was at the forefront of many social movements as well as being an early anti-war activist (resigned as Secretary of State over US decision to enter WWI). In the 1920s social evolution and eugenics were closely tied to Darwinism - Bryan was concerned about the implications of these developments. In fact, with regard to the trial Bryan's focus centered on the question of populism versus individual rights. Charles Darrow is also portrayed as a social reformer of types, however, one who's reputation had been sullied by several high profile criminal cases. Darrow was perceived as the Johnnie Cochrane of his day -capable but perhaps more concerned with winning than with justice.
  
  Perhaps the most valuable contribution of Larson's is its counter to the flawed and fictitious depictions of the case in works such as "Inherit the Wind" and "Only Yesterday". In general Larson does commendable work in producing an accessible and credible historical analysis of the Scopes trial. Although it is apparent that the author is not a supporter of conservative Christianity he remains sufficiently neutral to avoid alienating most readers.
  
  I recommend the book for students of American history as well as for readers seeking more context regarding the current evolutionary debate. It is the best book-length discussion of the Scopes case that I have come across.
  
  
  
  
• HOW "Summer for the Gods" CHANGED MY LIFE
  By on 1999-08-31
  Since receiving my (bargain) paperback copy of Edward J. Larson's "Summer for the Gods" I haven't slept or done my household chores. All I've been doing is reading this fascinating American political and religious history connected to the thread of the teaching (or suppression of the teaching) of biological evolutionary theory. That's how it changed my life ... until I finished reading this exciting book early this morning.

  As usual, the politically radical "people if faith" who don't seem to derive enough from their own belief systems for making them feel secure must persecute and dominate those who seemingly have different points of view (or at least more confidence in their own concepts). And so Larson walks us through the history of how one group of Americans (radical fundamentalist, politically active Christians) mobilize to impose on everyone else censoring of new teachings in science to public school students. Though the heavens may fall, teaching evolution in biology must be stopped. Successful national politician, William Jennings Bryan was the driving force behind this repression in the name of God during the early part of this century. World War I (and Bryan's opposition to American involvement in it) became politically entangled with his stopping evolution biology from being taught in public school rooms. He was a populist whose political platform was protecting American workers against exploitation by big corporate power. The nadir of Bryan's actions was the Scopes trial in which Clarence Darrow publicly exposes what Bryan is all about ... and the shallowness of his fundmentally flawed world view (that's MY spin on it ... since I accept species evolution as sound scientific theory, which does not threaten anyone's religion). Larson also delves into free speech movements associated with public school and university teachers. And so some of this book gets into the history of how the American Civil Liberties Union was begun. It also provides lots of background on the evolution (irony unintended) of radical Christian politics in the United States.

  By reading "Summer for the Gods," today's citizen can at least understand what is going on in today's Kansas state board of education and the halls of the U.S. Congress because Larsen thoroughly covers the history of how we got here. "Summer for the Gods" warrants the Pulitzer Prize.
  
  

• The beginning of the controversy
  By A1DK5AZMXS1QA3 on 2005-12-26
  There is probably one statement which both fans and foes of America can agree on; America is one of the most unique countries in this world. One way in which America is unique is that it is of the few countries in the world in which the theory of evolution is not widely accepted outside of the scientific community. This even though America has one of the longest histories of grappling with this scientific issue. This book provides a great introduction to this controversy within America, and focuses on the keystone event that brought evolution to the forefront of American politics; the Scopes Trial, that first great public trial of 20th century America.
  
  During the early 1900's, religious revivalism throughout the US led to the passing of numerous state and local laws banning the teaching of evolution in publicly funded schools. This in turn led to a backlash whereby scientists and others contested these laws in various forms throughout the US. One place where this contest boiled over was in Dayton, Tennessee. John Scopes, a local biology teacher, decided on principle to teach evolution and as a result, was disciplined by the local authorities. To his defense came Clarence Darrow. Leading the prosecution, and the anti-evolution forces, was William Jennings Bryant, one of the greatest orators of American history. The resulting trial, known as the Monkey Trial, would go down in history as a great victory for evolution against the those who believed in creationism.
  
  This book describe the events leading up to the trial, the trial itself, and the consequences of the trial. The book also goes into great detail to show how the trial affect those who took part in it. Even though the trial itself settled few issues decidedly, it did mark the beginning of the end of both Darrow and Bryant. Both men, and the judge overseeing the trial, saw their careers dim afterwards. John Scopes himself underwent so much pressure up to and during the trial, that the ensuing victory in public opinion of their side rang hollow.
  
  Overall, this is a good book to read. It gives great insight into the public consciousness of the 1920s, the role of government, science and religion in it, and introduced America to the riveting courtroom case.
  
  
• A fine history
  By A17UL6RVPNK5IS on 2000-10-16
  "Summer for the Gods" is an excellent analysis of the Scopes trial. Mr. Larson is especially good at recreating the atmosphere of 1920s Tennessee, as well as the mammoth presence of William Jennings Bryant. Larson's judicious use of quotes from the main players in the Scopes drama and his meticulous objectivity give his book the feel of a contemporary journalist's account of the trial's proceedings. At times I wished Larson would have been a little more extensive in his analysis, but the compact nature of the book is also one of its strongest points. Highly recommended (especially to those who have seen "Inherit the Wind"!
  
  
• A Myth-Buster
  By APD7XINUVG5AL on 2002-01-05
  As many other reviewers have noted, Summer for the Gods is an exceptional book in that it is able to show the historical context and events of the Scopes trial in an unbiased light. Furthermore, it is evident that he undertook painstaking research to show not only the events as they actually took place, but also the highly editorialized media reports of the Monkey Trial. This is of critical importance today, as the play/movie Inherit the Wind has heavily colored society's perception of the trial. Inherit the Wind is best described by the original review by Time magazine, quoted by Larson on p. 243, "The script wildly and unjustly caricatures the fundamentalists as vicious and narrow-minded hypocrites, and just as wildly and unjustly idealizes their opponents, as personified by Darrow." Fortunately, Larson is much more honest in his portrayal of the participants in the event, showing the good and bad sides of the defense, prosecution, Justic Raulston, the ACLU, and Scopes.

  While the chapters leading up to the trial are chock-full of valuable information, parts can become a bit tedious when sorting through the sea of names, from reporters to ACLU members to lawyers that did participate in the trial to politicians that shaped the mood of the era. Nonetheless, it is the important background that precedes the fascinating course of the trial and the repercussions it had on American society and politics. It is amusing how the trial changes shape as it progresses, beginning as a planned test case on academic freedom by the ACLU with several willing participants. It then takes on the added flavor of a publicity stunt for the town of Dayton, and much to the displeasure of the ACLU draws the attention of both Bryan and Darrow. From there the case transformed into an odd battle that is not reducible to a few trite words of description. As Larson repeatedly points out, the trial and outcome are not so easily summarized, so I highly recommend that you read this book for yourself!

  One final note...what this book fails to do, is even acknowledge that there are many legitimate SCIENTIFIC objections to evolution that are being excluded from classroom instruction. Larson does point out that many Christians see an ironic parallel between the exclusion of evolution then and the exclusion of creation now, but he implies creation is only subjective fundamentalism, and states that organic evolution is a core theory of modern biology (p. 265). While the book is obviously a historical account and not a scientific debate of the creation-evolution issue, the above statement is an unfortunate gloss that obscures the scientific problems with the theory of evolution.
  
  

• Gripping journallistic account!
  By A3ODGAW5Z2EJ1M on 2002-08-06
  Edward Larson has done us a favor by writing on an often both neglected and misunderstood piece of history in the Scopes trial. The author handles all involved with an even hand minus the kid gloves so often used in the name of 'objective' journalism. Criticism (and praise)is given to all parties when it is deserved.

  One glaring problem. The reader quickly picks up that, in Larsons view,- and I tend to agree- the case became more about evolution versus creationism than about whether Scopes violated the Tennessee antievolution law or even the constitutionality of the law itself. So the problem becomes that, in Larsons desire to give us a journalistic account of the trial, he never comments on the issues of law involved. For instance, we know that the defense read the antievolution law to prohibit teaching evolution ONLY if it's account differs with the bible. The defense's challenge was that evolution can be taught in accordance with biblical creationism. Hence, Scopes broke no law. Although the scholars to prove this were never able to testify, it would've been nice to hear comments on legal issues like this one.

  I also could've done without some of the tedium of the pre-trial explanation. Some of the detail was repetitive. I'm not sure how many times we needed to be reminded of the fact that the ACLU did not want Darrow's name associated with the trial.

  Still, this is a great read that moves like a legal-thriller of the first rate. At last, an author has found a way to give scholarly treatment and serious attention to a trial looked on by many as a joke.
  
  

• Excellent and enlightening
  By A3VF27LJRECEB on 2004-07-27
  Well! I'm glad I read this!
  
  The "Scopes Monkey Trial" has fascinated me for years. Like many others, however, the majority of my knowledge came from the movie/play "Inherit The Wind."
  
  This book clearly and in great detail gives us the story of the actual trial, including many quotes from the trial transcript and contemporary newspaper accounts and editorials. It explains the political atmosphere of the "Roaring Twenties" and delineates the chain of events and political thinking that led to the enactment of the Tennessee anti-evolution law and the subsequent trial of John Scopes of Dayton, Tennessee, for teaching evolution in spite of the law. (I was astounded to learn that Mr. Scopes was enlisted by the town fathers to flout the law as a method to garner publicity for their dying town.)
  
  The author also provides an in-depth analysis of "Inherit The Wind" and its place in history, plus a detailed (and scary) look at the more recent creationist surge in the American education system.
  
  An excellent book, well-researched and documented.
  
  
  
• Great summary of an important trial
  By A34712VPBXHWG5 on 2007-01-30
  The book itself is very good and quite informative. I think that Larson did a fine job in that:
  
  * He provided necessary context for the trial, but only provided what was directly relevant
  * He presented the events leading up to, during, and after the trail while treaing all sides fairly
  
  I was somewhat disappointed a bit by the lack of excitement in the actual historical events. The trial has been reworked in other media to such a fashion that the reality of the actual events are fairly anti-climatic. However, this is not a fault of the book, but is due to misconceptions I had of events before I picked the book up.
  
  Oddly enough, 80 years later this trial and its fallout is still relevant. The book is well researched and written, and is definitely worth reading.
  
  
• Proves again that the real story is always more interesting.
  By on 1999-05-19
  Edward Larson's "Summer for the Gods" is a masterpiece of historical writing for several reasons: Mr. Larson always maintains his objectivity; the story is set in the proper context of its times; and finally Mr. Larson devotes attention to the effect of the infamous Scopes trial. Having been raised on "Inherit the Wind," the fictional version of the trial, I was astounded to learn the truth behind the trial and of its eventual impact. Mr. Larson makes the story fresh even after 74 years, and as noted earlier he takes an objective approach to all sides of the trial. In doing so, Mr. Larson corrects several historical misconceptions and William Jennings Bryan at last regains his standing as a remarkable American politician. The narrative is crisp and never bogs down the story. I highly recommend this book.
  
  
• Even handed for the most part
  By A29ZEN4TTHK4NF on 1999-12-09
  Larson does a wonderful job of proving his readers with the beginnings of the creation-evolution debate before getting to the Scopes trial. Although, he is not in favor of Bryan, he only lets it slip a couple of times.

  He presents the Scopes trial as it was: A staged event, brought on by the ACLU, taken over by Darrow, and ignored by Scopes.

  Larson also uses Fundamentalist terms in their context and well. I was very impressed with his knowledge of the roots and the defining factor of the 1920s Fundamentalists: Militantism.

  A definite read for all interested in the Creation-Evolution debate, no matter where they stand on the issue.
  
  

• An Aside: Evolution is only a partial "fact"
  By A3TPJOEN2CVO36 on 2001-09-11
  The other reviewers of this book have written very good reviews
  of the contents of the book, and I can add little to them. I
  agree that Mr. Larson presents a very balanced, complete and usually
  interesting account of the Scopes Trial, including a fine background
  on the science vs. religion conflict that had been essentially
  artifically created by scientists in Darwin's time (p. 21). In fact
  many great scientists, from Newton on, have believed that they were
  uncovering God's laws. Darwin himself was probably agnostic, but
  science after Darwin, surely due to Darwin, has become a license
  for atheism. Quoting an "expert," Richard Dawkins, "The universe we
  observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at
  bottom no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but
  pointless indifference." In my opinion this scientism, this
  "rationalism," is a travesty for which there is no "scientific proof."

  In the introduction and first chapter of the book we read about
  the evidence that was accepted, more or less, by scientists at the
  time of the trial for the purported ape-to-man evolution. The author
  devotes some pages to the Piltdown man and Dart's Taungs man-ape.
  What the author does not even bother to mention is that the Piltdown
  man was proven to be a fraud, but it took until 1953, 40 years
  after its discovery, for the truth to come out. You know why? The
  pattern of so-called "self-correcting" science has repeated itself
  continuously in the ape-to-human debate, which is that evolutionists
  keep making public discoveries about "missing links," to convince us
  that they know that man evolved from apes through meaningless "natural
  selection," but discoveries are made all the time that contradict and
  refute the prior "proof." There is a mass of confusion on this issue
  that has been well-documented in many books. The contention that
  whatever their disagreements, at times almost violent disagreements,
  scientists know that humans evolved from apes by accident, is an
  empty contention as far I'm concerned. They do it, first of all, out
  of hubris, and secondly to counteract Fundamentalism. Those of us
  who just want the facts are caught in the middle.

  (By the way, Dart'sdiscovery is also no longer in vogue, as far
  as I know, and anyway it was rejected by many evolutionists for about
  20 years in his time.)

  It seems that in our time so-called "rational" people must believe
  that evolution is a "fact" that totally explains the way life has come
  about on the earth. I've got plenty of references, by scientists and
  n0n-scientists, that prove that this simply is not the case. Please
  email me if you are interested in references that debate the "fact"
  of Darwinian evolution. In my opinion, 2 quotes from W. J. Bryan on
  p. 42 are still true: a) "Darwinism is not science...it is guesses
  strung together" (I deleted "at all," because microevolution is
  proven); b) "Man is infinitely more than science..."
  
  

• The Definitive Work on The Scopes Trial
  By A7OJISP7BPIGB on 2003-10-10
  This was a very good book. Having the whole fiasco narrated in such detail completely changed my impression of both the defense and the prosecution. I was surprised to learn what a jerk Clarence Darrow was - and how the ACLU kept trying to manipulate him out of the trial. Also corrected were some of my misunderstandings (and misgivings) about fundamentalism and Freethought (in the trademarked sense of the word) in the twenties and thirties.

  Read this book and learn how the Scopes trial was an early pre-television episode of Reality T.V. Compared to it, "Inherit the Wind" is almost real.
  
  

• A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign
• Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory (Modern Library Chronicles)
• Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939
• The Scopes Trial: A Brief History with Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)
• Inherit the Wind