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SEVEN FAMOUS TRIALS IN HISTORY by Robin McKown

SEVEN FAMOUS TRIALS IN HISTORY

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Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 1963
Publisher: Vanguard

These are the trials that involved ideas crucial to the history of western civilization. The principals at issue transcend the bounds of the regions in which they were held. The combination of events in each case makes each a powerful story of justice-- and injustice. Socrates, Joan of Arc, Galileo and Emmet lost their cases and won history. Zenger's victory at the bar opened a door in American communications that no demagogue has managed to slam shut. Dreyfus is the symbol of the individual at bay: first as a sacrifice to military and political pride; then as the victim of prejudice and illegality; finally triumphant in truth against impossible odds. The Nuremberg mass trial is of course the longest essay. One of the best features of this last is the way in which all of the forces at work in the Nuremberg trials are brought into context:- its use as a legend killer; as an historic and grisly document; the continuing controversies in its wake. Excellent background detail and interesting to exciting reading.