Clarence Darrow: attorney for the damned
A biography of Clarence Darrow that examines the tensions between law, politics, and reform in modern America.
Work Information
Darrow’s life emerges as a portrait of an era as much as of a lawyer.
John A. Farrell looks beyond Darrow’s courtroom fame to his central role in labor struggles and civil-rights battles.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Scribe Publications
- Published
- 2011-08-01
- Pages
- 576 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 15.4 x 3.6 x 23.3 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781921844256
- ISBN-10
- 1921844256
- Category
- 洋書/Professional & Technical/Law/Criminal Law
Drawing on untapped archives and full of fresh revelations, here is the definitive biography of America’s legendary defence attorney and progressive hero. Clarence Darrow is the lawyer every law student dreams of being: on the side of right, loved by many women, played by Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind . His days-long closing arguments delivered without notes won miraculous reprieves for men doomed to hang. Darrow left a promising career as a railroad lawyer during the tumultuous Gilded Age in order to champion poor workers, blacks, and social and political outcasts against big business, Jim Crow, and corrupt officials. He became famous defending union leader Eugene Debs in the landmark Pullman Strike case and went from one headline case to the next ― until he was nearly crushed by an indictment for bribing a jury. He redeemed himself in Dayton, Tennessee, defending schoolteacher John Scopes in the ‘Monkey Trial’, cementing his place in history. Now, John Farrell draws on previously unpublished correspondence and memoirs to offer a candid account of Darrow’s divorce, affairs, and disastrous finances; new details of his feud with his law partner, the famous poet Edgar Lee Masters; a shocking disclosure about one of his most controversial cases; and explosive revelations of shady tactics he used in his own trial for bribery. Clarence Darrow is a sweeping, surprising portrait of a legendary legal mind.
John A. Farrell is the author of Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned , which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography, and Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century , which was a New York Times Notable Book and a Washington Post Rave of the Year. As a longtime journalist at The Boston Globe , he worked as White House correspondent, Washington editor, and investigative reporter on the vaunted Spotlight team. His award-winning portrait of Nixon was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography, and earned him the title of American Historian Laureate from the New York Historical Society. Julian Burnside, QC, is an Australian barrister who specialises in commercial litigation and is also deeply involved in human-rights work, in particular in relation to refugees. He is a former president of Liberty Victoria, and is also passionately involved in the arts: he is the chair of Melbourne arts venue fortyfivedownstairs, and regularly commissions music. He has published a children’s book, Matilda and the Dragon , as well as Wordwatching , a collection of essays on the uses and abuses of the English language, and Watching Brief: reflections on human rights, law, and justice .
Reviews
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Clarence Darrow: attorney for the damned
A well-written biography is a thing of beauty and this is a well-written biography. It's a relatively easy read in that the author keeps the story moving along using quotes from various people from the era. It brings home the fact, that as an outsider looking in, America really hasn't changed except technologically speaking. The social structures of Darrow's time are still relevant today. Intriguing. I highly recommend this book.
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Product great but delivery awful
Bok is as ordered and supplied as promised. Shame I found it dumped on my doorstep and the delivery driver long gone. Yet the record says it was handed to me. Could easily have been stolen. Not the first time this has happened so reviewing if I will use Amazon again.
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The country bumpkin who bested the the Judical elite
Very lengthy discourse at beginning of small town politics - this is supposed to be a biography of noted Well known Attorney. Should concentrate more on his famous trials and nitty gritty of the Monkey Scopes Trial and the fascinating ' Rope '. Trial. As it is written it dosn't do justice to the great. Image of Darrow portrayed by Spencer Tracy and the equally brilliant Frederick March. American Cinema at its Best.