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The Great Trials Of The Twenties: The Watershed Decade In America's Courtrooms

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An enjoyable book, nicely illustrated, which gives concise and interesting insights into some of the topics that exercised Americans in the 1920s and early 1930s: immigration, political radicalism, prohibition, crime and delinquent social behavior, the debate between creationism and science, and so on. I would have welcomed, in one or two chapters, slightly more detail from the trials themselves, and sometimes the overall historical context is a little thinly sketched. However, this is popular history, not some bone-dry academic thesis, and it works very well at that level.

The Great Trials of the Twenties: The Watershed Decade in America's Courtrooms, by Robert Grant and Joseph Katz, guides the reader through the 1920s via such scandalous court-room trials as that of Al Capone, the Ku Klux Klan's David C. Stephenson, the Chicago "Black Sox", Loeb-Leopold, and more. The authors spent a great deal of time each chapter delving into the background information (what was going on in the country prior to the trial). They "set up" the scandal at length before the reader learns about it. I think this is beneficial if the reader is looking to understand more about the 1920s, but I think it is also a little unnecessary at times. I would like it if just as many pages covered the trials themselves, so I didn't feel like I had just "scratched the surface". Some excerpts of testimony and proceedings are included, which are effective, but I also think more are needed to help the reader grasp every angle of the scandal, the accused, the actual proceedings, etc.
What I really like about this book is how it sums up each account in the end, with either what it meant for the United States and its people in the 1920s or what happened to the defendant later on. When reading, it's obvious that Grant and Katz "know their stuff" when it comes to history. The inclusion of a section of photographs adds a great deal and makes the information hit home better when a face is put to a name. The authors highlight the ten most interesting, controversial, and exciting trials of the 1920s; not one trivial or disappointing trial was included. In covering all of these, the book runs like ten mini-stories, which, in my opinion, also keeps the interest factor up more than if the book were devoted to one single trial.
Each trial is analyzed, but the authors offer up these accounts in an objective and non-biased way. On the whole, it makes for a good read on the decade that ushered America into the modern age. The book attempts to connect the after-math and influence of the trials to America today. It does a fine job of this, and is easy to understand even if one is not a history buff. If readers are looking for a book only on trial proceedings they might be a little disappointed, but if they're looking for insight into the 1920s, The Great Trials of the Twenties: The Watershed Decade in America's Courtrooms is a nice choice.

This book manages to stay lively while giving both the social and historical context and details of the trials themselves. The narrative is informed but not ponderous, in fact, at times it almost conversational in tone. The trials selected encompass a broad array of issues from those times, ranging from sports scandles to organized crime to military heroes to xenophobia to science and creation. Each entry is long enough to give the reader a real good feel for the issues surrounding the case, but short enough to keep the pacing fast and enjoyable. I recommend it highly.

Famous trials can illustrate the political, social, and cultural conflicts of society. The `Introduction' gives an overview of these trials. Robert Grant and Joseph Katz are history professors and comment on each case (pp.2-4). They don't say who wrote each article but you can see their personal views. The start of the European War in 1914 was followed by new prosperity in America. In 1921 the price for agricultural products dropped 50% world-wide and created hardships for farmers and the small businesses that served them. There was increased migration to the cities from rural areas. There is no mention of strikes over working conditions.

Each of the ten chapters has a concise story of the trial in about 24 pages. They are not arranged in chronological order. The `Select Bibliography' lists the books that provide more coverage. The `Prologue' tells about post-war America. Do no assume the authors are 100% correct in their opinions. Page 7 says "the strikes and labor unrest ... simply vanished". Were wages raised or was it oppression? Was there "high prosperity" (p.8) when it was "unevenly distributed"? The comments about "consumerism" does not mention the new system of buying on time. Actually everything that is produced must be consumed or the producer suffers economically. [Were the authors born in the 1950s?]

Did the movies of the 1920s show "banal middle class values" (p.8)? Many silent films showed controversial subjects. "Hix Nix Stix Pix" and the Production Code censored movies in the 1930s. See pages 78-79 and 96. This book is like those TV documentaries that entertain more than they educate, but it is worth reading for general information. The picture after page 138 shows the defense lawyers for Sacco & Vanzetti: William G. Thompson (Senior Counsel), Herbert B. Ehrmann (Junior Counsel), and reporter Thomas O'Connor. The "average working man" could not buy a new car (p.9) until the prosperous 1950s. Only salaried workers got paid all year, working men had periods of lay-offs. You may find other examples of inexact statements.

"Cultural conflicts" (p.10) are a euphemism for the class war. Small-town America was becoming poorer than the growing cities (p.19). If immigrants settled in cities (p.11) it was because the job opportunities were there. The 1930s saw many people migrate to rural areas as in the 19th century. It is wrong to claim "Prohibition" was American. The Pilgrims were notoriously "wet", George Washington was a major whiskey manufacturer. Prohibition banned the taverns where workingmen congregated and could be organized into unions. Prohibitionists promised prosperity and lower crime (p.13) but delivered the opposite. [Gun Control promises the same but areas with Gun Prohibition have the most violent crime.] Page 20 mentions the cause of the Great Depression. Lower wages result in fewer sales, less production, and closed businesses. It is still true today in this Great Recession.

The more important trials are those relevant to today. "Teapot Dome" involved giving leases on domestic oil lands reserved for the military to millionaires who gave money to government officials. Insull created electric utilities controlled by holding companies in a pyramid scheme. Share values were manipulated so the buying public paid far more than their value. [This is like the High-Tech stock scams in the late 1990s.] Insull dominated Chicago in the 1920s (p.228). His propaganda agency controlled newspapers, libraries, schools and colleges to push their agenda of corporate-controlled power utilities (p.229). This is analyzed in pages 230-245. After the slaughter of the Great War the public sought demilitarization. Billy Mitchell sought an expanded Air Service that de-emphasized the Cavalry and Navy. His proposal of bombing civilians was then a War Crime. Massive bombing helped but did not win WW II alone. The Soviet Army defeated Nazi Germany without a bomber fleet.