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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
John T. Scope's own story of the Great Monkey Trial of 1925,
By Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: Center of the Storm: Memoirs of John T. Scopes (Hardcover)
John T. Scopes finally wrote his autobiographical account of the celebrated Monkey Trial that bears his name to correct the small errors of fact and large errors of emphasis that had crept into publish accounts during his lifetime. Scopes maintained that the basic freedoms defended at Dayton in the summer of 1925 need to be embraced by each generation. Relatively silent during the actual trial, Scopes finally gave voice to his thoughts on the preachings of Christian Fundamentalists, Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, and the entire circus atmosphere of the trial. More than any other autobiographical account, Scopes relates specific details about each stage of the trial, such as the stifling heat and the nuances of the public arguments. For Scopes the trial was never a question of choosing between evolution and Genesis, but rather in defending the freedom of teachers to teach and students to learn. As far as he was concerned both sides could belief what they wished, but they could not force their beliefs upon others. Scope's recollections of Darrow and Bryan are particularly insightful, and it is somewhat surprising that as the dramatic highpoint of the trial he picks not Darrow's cross-examination of Bryan on the courthouse lawn, but Dudley Field Malone's fiery speech in defense of academic freedom. If anything, Scopes goes out of his way to have nice things to say about everybody involved in the trial, including Judge Raulston and H. L. Mencken. "Center of the Storm" certainly provides evidence of the author's character and we have to remember that despite the distorted version of the trial enshrined in "Inherit the Wind," nobody in Dayton ever had a bad thing to say about Scopes. In fact, many at the time saw in Scopes the same basic American virtues that were embodied in Charles Lindbergh. These recollections offer a casual account of the events that gripped the nation that summer for the Gods and "Center of the Storm" richly deserves to be kept in print. It would especially be nice to have an annotated version of the book published, so that people could continue to enjoy the delicious irony that the fairest critic of the case of Tennessee v. John T. Scopes was the person who was being judged during one of the earliest Trials of the Century.
4.0 out of 5 stars
great book,
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This review is from: Center of the Storm: Memoirs of John T. Scopes (Hardcover)
been searching for a while. book is in excellent condition. Visit the Scope's Monkey Trial in Dayton TN
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