Highlights

Great American Trials provides an abundance of information on the most significant and celebrated trials in U.S. history, from 1637 to the present. Included are brief and accurate summaries of trials known for their historic or legal significance, political controversy, public attention, legal ingenuity, or literary fame. Great American Trials covers a broad scope of trials, including:

• Salem Witchcraft Trials (1692)
• Dred Scott Trial (1856)
• Lizzie Borden Trial (1893)
• Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial (1911)
• Leopold and Loeb Trial (1924)
• Teapot Dome Trials (1926)
• Hollywood Ten Trials (1948-50)
• Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Morton Sobell (1951)
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
• Charles Manson Trial (1970-71)
• Roe v. Wade (1973)
• Ted Bundy Trials (1976 & 1979)
• John Demjanjuk Denaturalization Trial (1981)
• Jim Bakker Trial (1989)
• Mike Tyson Trial (1992)
• O.J. Simpson Trials (1995-1997)
• Bill Clinton Impeachment (1998-99)
• 2000 Presidential Election Trials (2000)
• and many more—378 courtroom cases in all

Each trial begins with the facts—setting up the key players, the charges, and site of the trial, followed by a narrative that explains the circumstances that led to the trial, pre-trial maneuvers, the trial itself, the judgment, appeals (if any), and any subsequent implications of the trial.

Special features:

• Chronological arrangement of trials shows the developmental pattern of law: today's cases apply yesterday's precedents
• Most entries end with suggestions for further reading, enabling the user to easily continue research on a particular trial
• Three tables of contents—chronological, alphabetical, and categorical—provide easy access to any specific trial
• More than 240 subject-specific photographs and drawings
• Glossary defining legal terms
• Comprehensive index lists key figures, subjects, and areas of law