Great World Trials

As riveting as a courtroom, this book brings readers right into the jury box with its gripping account of 100 important legal battles. With real-life drama, it sets the stage for each case, presents the details, discloses the verdict and analyzes the impact of the action. 90 photos.

"The very concept of what constitutes a trial--much less a fair trial--differs radically from one society to another... Yet there is a common denominator among all the trials in these pages... Each trial, however rigged, venal, or tyrannical, was intended to provide a cloak of legitimacy for the punishment of a real or imagined infraction of the rules of the contemporary social order." Religious movements, ideological clashes, revolutions, wars, nationalist uprisings, decolonization, and changing social mores have all generated famous trials, the consequences of which are still felt. Edward Knappman, author of the excellent Great American Trials, has selected 100 important trials from around the world (two-thirds of which are from the 20th century). For each trial there's a box summarizing the dramatis personae, location, date(s), verdict(s), sentences(s), and historical/legal significance, followed by an engaging narrative with photos, quotations from transcripts, and suggestions for further reading. Also included are four tables of contents (chronological, alphabetical, by subject, and by country) and an extensive index.