Literately Speaking - Beyond Schenectady

On "Summer For The Gods" by Edward J. Larson

o It isn’t often one reads a technically correct non-fiction account of a historical period, or worse, a specific issue of the period containing multi-faceted ideas, truths, and fictions of social, scientific, and emotional divide and not find its readability comparable to watching paint dry. But Edward J. Larson’s book, “Summer For The Gods” is one of those we all hope to experience when spending our hard earned money on something which was deemed publishable.
A remarkably well researched book, complete with pages of citation, Larson has given us a clear and orderly picture of the Scopes trial bracketed in the events leading up to it, and some unexpected – or at least little understood – events following it that illuminate just how effectively emotion and the prevailing social influences can trump the facts.
For many of us, the sole record of the Scopes trial came bundled in a high school reading of “Inherit the Wind” and a brief summery in a social studies class, usually based on the same book. Larson discusses that book and its intended purpose, which was not written to be an accounting of the Scopes trial, and offered more fiction than fact.
If you believe Bryan wanted evolution tossed out of schools and religion taught instead – or continued to be taught - or that he was a Bible literalist, you will find a very different man exposed here. You will also find the influential actors behind the defense and prosecution exposed.
There were driving issues in that day that are forgotten today and some which are still with us. The swell of Darwinism brought a very serious interest in eugenics – the cornerstone of planned parenthood – and a question of responsibility. Darrow has won a case defending a brutal murder – 1924 Leopold-Loeb case – with arguments of psychological determination and free will, challenging concepts of morality and religion. Bryan holds concerns regarding the taxpayer’s right to the education of their children, and he believes the State should not control them via the public schools.
The players are all identified, their motives and positions revealed, and the plot unfolds in a well-organized fashion that keeps a reader turning pages, as in a story well told by the best of writers. History was never so pleasant to read.

posted by Smith @ 5:01 PM