Bøger af Edward Caudill

Custer's Last Stand remains iconic in American history. Had Custer prevailed at the Little Bighorn, the victory may have been one among many, while in defeat, he became legend. In Inventing Custer, Caudill and Ashdown bridge the gap between the true Custer and the one immortalized into legend in our generally accepted reading of American history.

Caudill, whose Darwin in the Press (Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc., 1989) covered similar ground, here adds little to the corpus of rich literature on Darwinian evolution; his discussions of the theory's misapplications have been covered thoroughly by other researchers. He focuses here on documentation from the popular press, which, he argues, has been overlooked. In doing so Caudill ignores much of the extensive research by contemporary scientists and historians of science. Caudill also often refers to articles without author attribution, using phrases such as "a German doctor" or "a Harvard professor." The reader must go to the notes to identify the author and to assess Caudill's comments and criticisms. In addition. the book lacks continuity and flow, reading like a series of essays strung together under a theme of "myths." Tighter editing would have improved continuity, addressed inconsistencies in using birth and death dates, and corrected the unforgivable misspelling of the name Wedgwood. Not recommended.?Joyce L. Ogburn, Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, Va.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

It was a big story in a small place. During the summer of 1925, the tiny hamlet of Dayton, Tennessee, became the setting for one of the most controversial trials in American history. In a move designed partly as a publicity scheme and partly as a means to test a newly enacted anti-evolution law, a young teacher named John Thomas Scopes agreed to be arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of natural selection in the public schools. The resulting courtroom showdown pitted Clarence Darrow, the brilliant trial lawyer and self-proclaimed agnostic, against Williams Jennings Bryan, three-time presidential candidate and fundamentalist Christian. For twelve days all eyes focused on Dayton as a spirited public debate unfolded. Published on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Scopes trial, this book vividly recalls that famous episode through an array of fascinating archival photographs, many of them never before published. Images of the circus-like atmosphere that overtook Dayton during the trial alternate with candid photos of the key players. The accompanying text and captions summarize the events and clarify the underlying issues of the trial. While the legal consequences of the trial were minuscule--it ended in Scopes's conviction, which was later overturned on a technicality--its symbolic importance was enormous, defining the science-religion debate in the twentieth century. In addition to revisiting the Scopes trial, the book also examines its continuing legacy in Tennessee history, politics, religion, and education. Although the 1925 law was finally repealed in 1967, state legislators have made subsequent efforts to challenge the teaching of evolution. "Like life itself," notes Edward Caudill in his introduction, "the controversy does not simply stop, but keeps evolving." The Contributors: Edward Caudill is associate dean for graduate studies and research in the College of Communications at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is the author of Darwinian Myths: The Uses and Misuses of a Theory. Edward J. Larson is Richard B. Russell Professor of History and professor of law at the University of Georgia. His book Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for history. Jesse Fox Mayshark is senior editor of Metro Pulse, a weekly newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sherman's March in Myth and Memory examines William Tecumseh Sherman's treatment in the press, among historians, on stage and screen, and in literature, from the time of the March to the present day. The authors show us the many ways in which Sherman has been portrayed in the media and popular culture, and how his devastating March has been stamped into our collective memory.

First Published in 1989. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.