Description
Book SynopsisTraces the legal meaning and cultural implications of prominent American trials across the history of the nation. This book shows how courtrooms are forced to cope with unresolved communal anxieties and how they sometimes make legal decisions that change the way Americans think about themselves.
Trade Review"A distinguished law professor, accomplished historian, and fine writer, Robert Ferguson is uniquely qualified to narrate and analyze high-profile trials in American history. This is a superb book and a tremendous achievement. The chapter on John Brown alone is worth the price of admission." - Judge Richard Posner "A noted scholar of law and literature, [Ferguson] offers a work that is broad in scope yet focuses our attention on certain themes, notably the possibility of injustice, as illustrated by the Haymarket and Rosenberg prosecutions; the media's obsession with pandering to baser instincts; and the future of televised trials.... One of the best books written on this subject in quite some time." - Library Journal, starred review"
