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

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."

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 diffe

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 crit

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.