Darrow, a biography

the long version

Based on extensive new research and unpublished correspondence, this book presents a fresh, complex portrait of a towering figure in American history. Sweeping in scope and penetrating in its insights, the book traces Clarence Seward Darrow's rise from obsecurity to fame and notoriety, laying bare the truth about the man who encouraged myths to grow around himself. Writer, social reformer, lawyer, and politician, he fought for unions, advancement of the blacks, and redistribution of wealth, and against the "trusts." His extraordinary performances as defense attorney in the Leopold and Loeb "thrill-killing" case of 1924 and the Scopes evolution trial of 1925 made him such a celebrity that the show-business newspaper Variety described him as "America's greatest one-man stage draw." In what seems destined to become the definitive work, the author delineates this remarkable life, which spanned the era between the Civil War and World War II, with a sure grasp of the historical context and a keen eye for the man behind the legend. -- from book jacket.