Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion by Edward J. Larson

Praise for Summer for the Gods
     
    “Edward Larson ... tells the Scopes story with clarity and energy.... His book may be among the best one-volume primers on an American intellectual twilight.”
     
    — Boston Globe
     
     
    “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 Monitor
     
     
    “Larson’s account is an unusually balanced and readable treatment of the Scopes trial and its complexities.... Even better is Larson’s ability to humanize the trial and make it a tale of human folly.... The book is a good read about an important and often misunderstood subject. For his achievement, Larson deserves high praise.”
     
    —D. G. HART, American Historical Review
     
     
    “Masterly ... The strength of this book lies in Larson’s careful construction of the trial’s timeline, his expert treatment of the case’s legal dimensions, and his painstaking analysis of how the Scopes legend grew.... These achievements fully justify the prizes this volume has received.”
     
    —Mark NOLL, Isis
     
     
    “Forget the Lindberg kidnapping trial, the Manson trial, or even the O.J. trial. The real trial of the century was the Scopes Trial, and, although much has been written about it, nothing comes close to the definitive history written by Edward J. Larson.”
     
    — Skeptic
     
     
    “Edward Larson tells the true story of the Scopes trial brilliantly, and the truth is a lot more interesting than the myth that was presented to the public in Inherit the Wind”
     
    —PHILIP JOHNSON, University of California-Berkeley and author of Darwin on Trial
     
     
    “Experts will learn much about the background and details of the Scopes trial; the general reader will be drawn into the trial as never before. Inherit the Wind, step aside!”
     
    —WILL PROVINE, Cornell University
     
     
    “A marvelous remake of the drama in Dayton. Summer for the Gods accomplishes the extraordinary feat of teaching us a good deal that is new about the trial and its significance, including the behind-the-scenes strategizing of the lawyers, the civil liberties stakes in the outcome, and the realities of its impact on the teaching of evolution in the United States.”
     
    —DANIEL J. KEVLES, author of The Physicists: The History of a Scientific Community in Modern America
     
     
    “Summer for the Gods is, quite simply, the best book ever written on the Scopes trial and its place in American history and myth. The tone is balanced; the research, meticulous; the prose, sparkling.”
     
    —RONALD L. NUMBERS, University of Wisconsin-Madison and author, The Creationists
     
     
    “Larson ... gracefully documents the history of Darwinism, the theory of evolution and the fits and starts through which evolution became pitted against the Bible and fundamentalist religion.... 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 in public life and the power of the state to prescribe what shall be taught in public schools.”
     
    — New York Times
     
     
    “Larson brings understanding and perspective to a thorny issue.”
     
    — Pittsburg Post-Gazette
     
     
    “Skillfully interweaves the historical with the legal ... A superbly balanced account, both in narrative as well as analysis.... Summer for the Gods provides a thoughtful, reasoned approach to comprehending a deep-rooted culture clash, which, although it might change with each generation, shows little sign of disappearing.”
     
    — Journal of Southern