American Monkeys

American Monkeys is the world's first abridgement of the Scopes "Monkey Trial" court transcripts. This book presents the trial and its arguments as ORIGINally recorded both fairly and faithfully, and edits them together in such a way that now the transcripts are not just accessible, and enlightening, but downright entertaining! Here you'll find some of the most eloquent speeches and passionate arguments ever made inside a courthouse. The Scopes "Monkey Trial" engages with many issues that are highly relevant to anyone who lives in a modern "free" society. For instance, the broad politicization (and censorship) of education, faith, and fact is one. A "circus-like" press leading our social narratives is another. Not least, the idea of science as a "force" of "good" or "evil" remains contentious and questionable for many reasons today. As does law, and law-enforcement. But the matter here that's perhaps most novel in the face of today's modern world is how devoutly some of the trial's arguments are made in the interest of reconciliation. And with what courtesy, not just on the part of the defense, but of the prosecution also, these men treated each other, who opposed each other's beliefs and "facts" to the very core of their natures- and this, in the wake of America's Civil War. To quote Judge Raulston after the verdict has been brought in, "we are great when we fight the battle out and be friends." To that point, readers should know that Inherit the Wind was never meant to be an historical reflection of Mr. Scopes' trial. Inherit was a direct response to McCarthyism, which shows "Mr. Cates," an imprisoned intelligence persecuted by a mob of bellowing Bible-beaters in "Heavenly Hillsborough"- and not Mr. Scopes, a man who volunteered to help test this law by sitting as defendant, who was never jailed, in a town of people whom all the trial's visitors called remarkably gracious and open-minded; who valued civil discourse and who were proud to welcome this great debate into Dayton. For those who seek an understanding of what actually happened 100 years ago- of what captured the attention of the entire world- of what made the factual trial the most famous court trial that had ever existed- American Monkeys is a must-read.