The Trial of the Century

Fox News analyst Jarrett (The Russia Hoax), writing with New York Times best-selling author Don Yaeger, offers a lively, self-narrated account of the 1925 Scopes trial, prompted by the Tennessee legislature’s enactment of a bill banning the teaching of evolution in Tennessee public schools. Hoping to test the law’s constitutionality, the American Civil Liberties Union sought out a Tennessee teacher willing to be arrested and serve as a defendant. High school teacher John Scopes agreed to be that person. Agnostic lawyer Clarence Darrow served for the defense, and renowned political evangelist William Jennings Bryan joined the prosecution. The trial was clearly biased from the outset. The judge dismissed the jury during key parts of the testimony, and at his insistence, court proceedings began each day with a prayer. At the end of the trial, Darrow called Bryan as an expert Bible witness; his testimony favored the defense, as he revealed that he did not believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible. Jarrett enthusiastically narrates his book, engagingly describing this landmark case. His description of the trial proceedings is animated and compelling.