The Great Trials of the Twenties by Joseph Katz, Robert Grant 1998, Hardcover: items on eBay.com

Publisher's Note
This book provides in depth examination of 10 trials of the 1920s, featuring nearly every facet of American life: sports in the "Black Sox", Hollywood in Fatty Arbuckle, the mob in Al Capone, political corruption in Teapot Dome, religion in the Scopes Trial, and the trial of David Stephenson, which broke the back of the KKK in Indiana.

Industry Reviews
History professors Grant (Framingham Coll.) and Katz (Long Island Univ.) have written a detailed, lively, and even-handed account of ten major trials from the 1920s. What distinguishes the book are excerpts from trial testimony and the authors' discussions of historical developments such as sex in the cinema, teaching evolution in schools, and xenophobia. The book shows how each trial, such as the fiercely divisive Sacco and Vanzetti case, still has significance in American culture, though, as the authors show, it is impossible to know what really happened during the robbery for which Sacco and Vanzetti were executed. Other trials include those of the 1919 Chicago "Black Sox," Al Capone, and Leopold and Loeb. The characterizations of major and minor figures, including Clarence Darrow and Fatty Arbuckle, are fascinating. The authors have done their research, and the book deserves a wide audience. Harry Charles, Attorney at Law, St. Louis
Kolchin

In the scandal-prone 1920s, celebrity athletes, gangsters, politicians, movie stars and magnates found themselves defendants in marquee trials that fascinated the American public. Here Grant and Katz, historians at, respectively, Framingham College (Massachusetts) and Long Island University, analyze 10 high-profile criminal trials from that tumultuous period, expanding beyond the decade to include the 1919 Chicago "Black Sox" scandal and the 1930s trials of Al Capone and holding-company "super-titan" Samuel Insull. The authors dwell on the factual background of the cases and the social forces that swirled around them, glossing over the actual courtroom proceedings. (Predictably, the only attorney whose performance is noted at length is Clarence Darrow, in both the Leopold-Loeb trial and in the Scopes trial.) Sometimes the intricate background information makes for tedious reading, as when the authors attempt to trace the payola in the Teapot Dome conspiracy or to untangle the corporate structure of Insull's electric companies. More compelling is their examination of the brouhaha surrounding the decade's more sensational cases, such as the rape and murder trial of KKK leader David Stephenson and the trumped-up rape and murder charges against cinema giant Fatty Arbuckle. Although this collection of essays offers no surprises (the authors concede, for example, that key elements of the Sacco and Vanzetti and "Black Sox" cases remain mysterious), it gives a general impression of the period and foreshadows infamous trials to come. 16 pages of photos not seen by PW. (Dec.)
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