Yet another book about the Scopes trial? Yes, of course, because there really is a lot to tell. But I'm not sure this book gives us the new perspective he promises. He does provide various documents, but most of them are from other books that have been written . Here's a clue: if you are mostly citing other books, your book may not be needed. The author appears to be on the pro-evolution side, but at times, that may be somewhat deceptive, as his biggest (and most annoying) habit is to try to point out how the anti-evolutionists were helluva nice people, while the pro-evolutionists were, well, I guess not. He throws out the old arguments about city vs. country, as though that is adequate argument for seeing the value in the majoritarian view that held that evolution should be removed from the schools if lots of people were unhappy with it. He selectively excerpted the transcript of the Darrow examination of Bryan, and asked, rather disingenuously, whether Bryan really looked all that ridiculous (it wasn't that difficult to answer yes even from the transcripts he selected). He compared Mencken and W.E.B. Dubois columns, and implied that Dubois was somehow saying something much more tolerant than Mencken; in reality, Dubois was saying the exact same thing, that the south was ignorant and bigoted, but just using slightly different words (though ignorant and bigoted were Dubois's words, not mine). Overall, an interesting, but flawed, document, and way too much of the false equivalence of both sides that seems to mark almost all issue discussion nowadays, even when someone admits, however reluctantly, that one side is actually on more solid ground than the other. ( )

I remember vague references to the Scopes Trial from High School classes and various discussions on the evolution debate. This book is a great compilation of the data in and surrounding that case. I really enjoyed the introduction and commentary by the author that helped orient some of the texts and discussions. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the transcripts from the courtroom proceedings. And I also appreciated and enjoyed the supplemental material at the back (related essays, political cartoons, etc.). Overall, this book provides some great insights into the evolution debate (many of the same arguments continue almost verbatim today) as well as into many of the problems with our education system.

****
3.5 out of 5 stars ( )