A fantastic read!

This is a reissue of a past Pulitzer Winner for Non-Fiction, but reads like a page turner. Written with rich details and lustrous backstories of the origins of the argument, sometimes going back decades and even to a century (or millenia, as the subject often demands!), the book is a real treat for anyone even remotely interested in the subject.

The subject matter is laid out in coherent and distinct chapters, building towards the eventual culmination that is now considered old history, but was news of the land in its time.

A must-read.

This book was simultaneously fascinating to read and also disturbing- the lack of progress we have made since the Scopes Trial is horrific. This book was very well written and engaging, and as I am first and foremost a science geek, I appreciated that the scientific background to this trial (which was riveting enough) was treated with just as much reverence as the rest of the book.

Well, this was certainly an educational read for me. It's odd how sometimes you think you have a good general idea of what some historical incident was all about until you find an informed source that actually shows you little you know. That happened to me with this book. I now know that I did not know.

Creationism Vs. evolution is an argument that never dies and seems to keep getting revived in new ways as science and technology march onward. I'm not going to take a stand in this review, because I want this to remain about the book, but I can say that even as someone who is pretty comfortable with what they believe, this book still made me stop and consider the other side. That's impressive, considering how quick I, as many people are, am to declare my ideals and then go in search of proof for them. (Guilty as charged of confirmation bias.)

In any case, this book opened my eyes to a lot of things and made me stop and consider both sides of the argument. I love it when an author can do that. I do wish that it had been a bit longer because there are some portions I felt deserved more explanation. Overall though, this was an excellent book.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

this was a really good history book, you could tell that the author had passion for the topic and had researched thoroughly.

Edward Larson's Pulitzer Prize-winning study of the Scopes trial gives a very good overview of the events and personalities that surrounded this seminal event; one that perhaps deserved its billing of "the trial of the century".

Through the fog of time, the trial has largely been filtered down to a single clash of the titans, when Clarence Darrow grilled William Jennings Bryan over his literal interpretations of the Bible, and exposed the ridiculous and contradictory nature of those beliefs. Larson does make clear, however, that this was a somewhat pyrrhic victory; the defence lost the case, and fundamentalism thrived afterwards.

A modern reader cannot help but wonder what these people were thinking when they insisted that their belief in god meant that some science should be banned from the classrooms. It seems today that these views are almost risible. It is sobering to remember, however, that creationism is still a hot issue almost a century latter, and that these people's ideological successors now run the country.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review

4.5/5 stars


Summer for the Gods by Edward J Larson is a nonfiction book exploring everything leading up to, during and after the Scopes trial of the 1920s. This is often referred to as the “monkey trial” where a creationist was battled an evolutionist about the validity of the two world views. It was essentially a battle between whether or not evolution should be taught in schools, but the trail itself had a very different argument than the modern separation of church and state precedent that we are familiar with today.

The book I'm reviewing is the most recent edition of the original 1997 release. That is the 2020 edition which is the same exact book with a slightly modified afterward. While I received an e-ARC, I chose to listen to the edition on audible. I believe that is an adaptation of the 2006 edition which features its own afterword. After I listened to the book, I read the modified afterword in my 2020 e-ARC which I will discuss at the end.

I was surprised to learn that Scopes trial was not about separation of church and state as is the modern reasoning for keeping Christianity out and evolution in. I am loosely familiar with the Scopes trial period because I had a phase of extreme atheism (i.e. really into the social network), and the scopes trial was a major part of the atheist rhetoric and arguments discussed. However, most of my knowledge, while slightly vague, never really clearly defined the Scopes trial as it really was. A big part of this book is about debunking a lot of the misconceptions or the mindset the public has created around the Scopes trial.

The Scopes trial gave the “official” win to the state (supporting the law banning the teaching of evolution, but after the trial, there of re-branding where many saw it as a blow to creationists. This book discusses this thoroughly in the final part of the book. The book is split into three parts.

First is the period leading up to this trial which is an excellent review of what the societal mindset is around religion creationism in evolution. Second, the actual Scopes trial is discussed, and we learn that the trial was orchestrated by the ACLU to challenge that the law violated teachers individual liberties. The ACLU put out a request for a teacher to be used for this trial. What precedes is the trial as we know it. It comes down to trying to argue whether evolution breaks the law as defined by Tennessee.

Tennessee's law stated that evolution couldn’t be taught because it contradicts the views of the Bible. Scopes (lawyer’s) defense tries to focus on the fact that evolution is consistent with an interpretation of Genesis depending on how you look at it. In the end Scopes loses because it's clearly plain that he taught evolution and wasn't supposed to. It wasn't about whether or not evolution is in line with Christianity because the law wasn't about teaching things that go against Christianity; it was about teaching evolution.

However, the framing of the argument set up the infamous questioning of one of the states lead experts William Jennings Bryan. He was incapable of explaining away the many inconsistencies of the Bible with science (outside of just evolution). Many saw it as demeaning, and it resulted in Bryan being painted as uneducated and dumb by many in society. Granted, that view was among those who supported evolution. The opposing side saw Bryan as a martyr who stood for faith. Both of these views would fuel the more extreme actions of both the religious and the secular sides after the trial. It didn’t change the law, but it worked as a way of reshaping the battleground in a way that eventually lead to more action.

It was a long time before we started to recognize that the problem here isn't that someone's liberties were being infringed. Eventually, the emoluments clauses would be used to garner court decisions that set a precedent of a clear separation of church and state. You can’t block evolution because it is inconsistent with your religion (that is the state sanctioning or endorsing that religion over others). Nor can you teach creationism as if it is science. It's a recognition that creationism is entirely outside of the purview of the secular state.

I went into this book expecting much more of a discussion about religion versus secularism (i.e. separation of church and state). That was only a small fraction of the book. That is probably my biggest disappointment with the book. I wanted more on freedom of religion and the ability of the state to teach one religion over the other (i.e. Christianity). In the context of the trial, this book a does a great job taking a broad look overtime. Necessarily, it limits how deep we can explore each part.

We get such a clear picture of what led to the Scopes trial and then everything that came after and how it re-framed the way society looked at Christianity and evolution. There was no change in the law, but it triggered a polarization on both sides, and it set the groundwork for this conversation of freedom of religion. So overall, this was a fantastic book. It is dense with information just the way I like it. As with any great book, it paints a clear picture while leaving the reader inspired to search out more to learn.

As for the changes in the book (i.e. the afterward), it was largely unchanged. The most significant change was a discussion of statistics on the relationship between education, geography, and the belief in creationism. We see a lot of things happening in modern day that ties back to the cases of the past and the argument of the Scopes as Christians continue to push the boundary of church/state separation. We see attempts to try and hinder the ability to teach evolution without alluding to Christianity, but the subtle approaches are still very clear in their intent. However, it doesn't change that in the modern day we have conservative presidents like Donald Drumpf that contribute to the slow erosion of these previous presidents similar to the fears around the erosion of abortion rights as courts allow one new law after another that slowly restricts and decays the existing rights.

He makes a very persuasive and succinct argument as to why this information is still relevant to today. Speaking as someone from the South who grew up a young earth creationist, I think the mindset around evolution has changed, but religious extremism continues. If anything, the mainstream nature of evolution puts society at risk of complacency. It just highlights the need to understand and the importance of separation of church and state.

If you haven’t read this, 100% recommend (especially if you’re a history buff), but if you have a previous edition, I don’t think there is anything new here worth investing in.

Is this the 1920’s or the 2020’s? This book is so relevant today that seems to be written by a time traveler. They went back to the 1920’s witness the actual trial themselves and then time traveled up into 2020 and saw that it’s still happening. You have to wonder if there was a different set of attorneys or if the trial had never occurred in the first place if we’d be looking at the same situation that we are in today. The fundamentalists just can’t let evolution be excepted because it seems like their faith is not strong enough. And our lack of taking science seriously and trustworthy seems to have been reinforced by this trial and it’s aftermath.
I had heard about the scopes monkey trial years ago back in junior high or high school and it really did not make much of an impact on me at the time probably because we were told that he lost. However reading this book has really been an eye-opener to know more about the times the people and the fact that very little has changed over the last hundred years. This book was well written and a fast read, it covered a lot of material and had a lot of insight into both the justice system and Christianity here in the United States.
I think my only issue with the book was about a quarter of the way in where a lot of names were use for potential witnesses or possible attorneys and then someone dropped off a new ones were added and it got a little confusing as to who was on what side and who was going to do what but by the time the trial came up it was clear what was happening, who is calling the shots and how it was going to go forward.
This book is not just for people who are interested in the Scopes trial, it is also for people who are interested in the development of Christianity during that time as well as looking at how our justice system was during the 20s and also how somethings have changed but a lot has not.

In today's current political environment this book was a welcome addition. I've always felt that the best thing you can say about a well written history book is the "I learned something new". Having never read ths book when it was first published I found myself saying that on every page. It was well written and meticulously researched. The new section for 2020 brings it up to date. I would highly recommend this book

The author summarizes the tension leading up to the Scopes Trial regarding religion and evolution. The trial is covered in brilliant detail, as is the aftermath and the the ongoing debate on this issue. This is a very informative read.

Authoritative, comprehensive, detailed and excellently researched account of the 1925 Scopes Trial. All you could ever want or need to know about the trial itself, the people involved, the politics, and the still ongoing controversy and battle between evolution and creationism. An entertaining, accessible and informative read.

I didn't realize when I first picked this book that it had been released originally over twenty years ago and won the Pulitzer. I will admit that I had a difficult time getting through this book because of formatting issues on my kindle. I kept thinking that I hope they have that fixed by the time it is released, but now I'm confused as to the problems since it has been released before. Technical issues aside, I found this book took me much longer than usual to slog through. It is dense! The information is incredibly interesting, but it is very detailed and I had a hard time keeping track of every scientist and fundamentalist who ever said a word about evolution mentioned in this book. I did think it did an incredible job of fleshing out the main combatants and objectives for the Scopes trial. I would have liked more pictures to help put names to faces, but I really enjoyed the political cartoons that were included. Initially I felt that there was some author bias against Bryan, but as the book went on, I felt that it got a little more even handed in dealing with both Bryan and Darrow, neither of whom come off as particularly sympathetic characters. All in all, I found this book to have wonderful information, but it was a little difficult to navigate through it and want to keep going. I'm glad I did get through it though! If you want to get past the inaccuracies and oversimplification of the Scopes trial presented by Inherit the Wind, this book is a good way to do that.