Great Trials and the Law in the Historical Imagination : A Law and Humanities Approach

__Great Trials and the Law in the Historical Imagination: A Law and Humanities Approach__ introduces readers to the history of law and issues in historical, legal, and artistic interpretation by examining six well-known historical trials through works of art that portray them. __Great Trials__ provides readers with an accessible, non-dogmatic introduction to the interdisciplinary ‘law and humanities’ approach to law, legal history, and legal interpretation. By examining how six famous/notorious trials in Western history have been portrayed in six major works of art, the book shows how issues of legal, historical, and artistic interpretation can become intertwined: the different ways we embed law in narrative, how we bring conscious and subconscious conceptions of history to our interpretation of law, and how aesthetic predilections and moral commitments to the law may influence our views of history. The book studies well-known depictions of the trials of Socrates, Cicero, Jesus, Thomas More, the Salem ‘witches’, and John Scopes and provides innovative analyses of those works. The epilogue examines how historical methodology and historical imagination are crucial to both our understanding of the law and our aesthetic choices through various readings of Harper Lee’s beloved character, Atticus Finch. The first book to employ a ‘law and humanities’ approach to delve into the institution of the trial, and what it means in different legal systems at different historical times, this book will appeal to academics, students and others with interests in legal history, law and popular culture and law and the humanities. "Great Trials and the Law in the Historical Imagination: A Law and Humanities Approach introduces readers to the history of law and issues in historical, legal, and artistic interpretation by examining six well-known historical trials through works of art that portray them. Great Trials provides readers with an accessible, non-dogmatic introduction to the interdisciplinary 'law and humanities' approach to law, legal history, and legal interpretation. By examining how six famous/notorious trials in Western history have been portrayed in six major works of art, the book shows how issues of legal, historical, and artistic interpretation can become intertwined: the different ways we embed law in narrative, how we bring conscious and subconscious conceptions of history to our interpretation of law, and how aesthetic predilections and moral commitments to the law may influence our views of history. The book studies well-known depictions of the trials of Socrates, Cicero, Jesus, Thomas More, the Salem 'witches', and John Scopes and provides innovative analyses of those works. The epilogue examines how historical methodology and historical imagination are crucial to both our understanding of the law and our aesthetic choices through various readings of Harper Lee's beloved character, Atticus Finch. The first book to employ a 'law and humanities' approach to delve into the institution of the trial, and what it means in different legal systems at different historical times, this book will appeal to academics, students and others with interests in legal history, law and popular culture and law and the humanities"-- Provided by publisher This book introduces readers to issues in legal, historical, and cultural interpretation by examining six well-known historical trials through works of art that portray them. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 Part I Ancients 26 Chapter 1 The Trial of Socrates (399 B.C.E.): Democracy and Truth in the Apology 28 Chapter 2 Cicero and the Trial of Gaius Verres (70 B.C.E.): ‘Civic Corruption,’ the Rule of Law, and the Analogy of Republican Rome 44 Chapter 3 The Trial of Jesus (30/33 C.E.1): Law, Narrative, and Nomos in the Gospel according to Mark 67 Part II Moderns 86 Chapter 4 The Trial of Thomas More (1535): Authentic Selfhood and Procedural Law in A Man for All Seasons 88 Chapter 5 The Salem Witch Trials (1692): The Tragedy of Law in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible 107 Chapter 6 The Great Monkey Trial (1925): Historical ‘Memory’ and the ‘Politics of Eternity’ 124 Epilogue: The Vicissitudes of a Fictional Character: Time, Atticus Finch, and Constitutional Evil 148 Appendix 1 Summary of Historical Background and New Testament Source Differences 166 Appendix 2 Procedural Issues in the Trial of Thomas More 173 Appendix 3 A Digression on Evolution and Religion 181 Index 186 Historical,Memory;,The,Crucible;,A,Man,For,All,Seasons;,Salem,Witch,Trials;,Procedural,Law;,Thomas,More;,Cicero;,Rule,of,Law;,Civic,Corruption;,Socrates;,Truth;,Democracy Historical Memory,The Crucible,A Man For All Seasons,Salem Witch Trials,Procedural Law,Thomas More,Cicero,Rule of Law,Civic Corruption,Socrates,Truth,Democracy