Trials Books

"...one would like to think that the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, is the one island of sanity still remaining. But if what you folks are about to read is any indication, we've all got a lot to worry about. The question that presents itself is whether the near-pathological dizziness and irrationality in our society has so invaded this nation's marrow that, like a wildly infection virus, even the Supreme Court is not immune."

"Vincent Bugliosi received his law degree in 1964 from UCLA Law School. In his career as a prosecutor for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, he won 105 out of 106 felony jury trials. His most famous trial was the Charles Manson case, which became the basis of his classic bestselling book, 'Helter Skelter'. Both 'Helter Skelter' and his subsequent 'Till Death Us Do Part' won Edgar Allan Poe Awards for best true-crime book of the year. His next true-crime book, 'And the Sea Will Tell' was #1 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, as was his most recent book, 'Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away With Murder'.

This is a Library of Contemporary Thought publication, Ballantine Publishing Group, NY.

I really like this book a lot and He did a sermon at Pastor Chuck Smith's Church, The Title is: Nothing moves me Morning Service and I met Don McClure's Mother an our Church!! She's really nice, Is funny to read Don McClure's book it fells like he's talking to me an person is always funny to read somebody's book you know or seen somebody speak.

i found this book very interesting and exciting and it filled my sprit

This book is NOT by John Thomas Scopes, who did not pen his autobiography "Center of the Storm" until after the release of the film version of "Inherit the Wind" rekindled interest in his 1925 trial in Dayton, Tennessee. This volume contains the "complete stenographic record" of the trial, which was published that same year as "The World's Most Famous Court Trial." The book is supplemented by the text of William Jennings Bryan's undelivered antievolution speech, caricatures of the various lawyers, and photographs of the proceedings. This volume should not be confused with the official trial transcript and the only point at which the absolute accuracy of the record is suspect is the end of the celebrated cross-examination of Bryan by Clarence Darrow. Several of the first person accounts of the conclusion of that infamous encounter have lawyers yelling things that are not preserved in this record, but it is not all that farfetched to imagine the bedlam at the moment and the impossibility of maintaining an accurate record. Besides, Judge Raulston ruled the exchange inadmissible when court reconvened.

I did my dissertation on the Scopes Trial and if you are interested in doing anything with the case or its still vibrant issues, this book contains your primary documentation. Do not get caught up with what people SAY about the trial, READ the transcript. Many history books confuse the "Inherit the Wind" version of what happened with the real trial (most importantly, Bryan volunteered the idea the days of Genesis were not literally twenty-four hour periods, he was not cornered into the admit ion). This trial is as fascinating today as it was 75 years ago.

Richard Harwood makes a compelling case that the ingredients that made up the Nuremburg Tials were: the pretence of justice, restrictions on the defense, the presumption of guilt before the trial had even started, and hysterical accusations of the prosecution without any foundation of evidence.

In the indictment, there were very few crimes listed that the Allies themselves were not guilty of, and even fewer that the Germans were in fact guilty of.

This book contains, not a re-writing of history, but rather a simple guide to historical material which has been forgotten, or discounted. The 312,022 notarized defense affidavits presented at the trial have been forgotten, or discounted, while the 8 or 9 prosecution affidavits which "rebutted" them are remembered and canonized.

This book references a great many number of sources. That is so that interested but sceptical people may check things out for themselves.

Whether the statements of the defense are more credible than the charges of human soap, steamings, lampshades, gassings, and other wild acusations of the prosecution, is for the reader to decide.

This important book is an eye-witness account of the Nuremberg trials written by then journalist and now Judge Norbert Ehrenfreund. It is the type of book all should read: the young to learn of the legacy of this, history's most important trial, and the old as a reminder of what occurred and its lessons. Truly, the past is prologue and the Trials gave the world meticulously documented evidence of Nazi atrocities and set forth a lasting moral/legal judgment that wars of aggression and the murder of innocents are world class crimes for which the wrongdoers will face the judgment of the civilized world. The relevance of the Trials, as the author convincingly proclaims, is as important today as when the Trials took place sixty years ago.

In this splendid volume historian Robert B. Partridge has done a wonderful service for students of the life of King Charles, martyr; particularly for those who continue to lament the impropriety of the dearth of appropriate memorials to Charles's memory. `O Horrable Murder' serves to refresh the memory of experts, and provides useful background and context for those beginning to study his life and martyrdom.
Partridge begins with an accurate and compressed recounting of King Charles's life, then focuses on his imprisonment, last days, trial, execution, and burial. He is adept at synthesizing familiar material from secondary sources, but goes the extra mile correcting errors that have crept into the record by consulting primary sources. For those efforts alone Partridge is to be commended. But this book's primary strengths are the organization of familiar and new details about Charles's final resting place, and the stunning examples of the neglect he has suffered in death. This book provides valuable information for those who argue today for a more appropriate and larger shrine to his memory.
Partridge throughout keeps his sympathies well in check: his factual work is scrupulously accurate and fair. Not every detail selected or featured will please Royalists, and some of Partridge's historical analysis might be discussed with alternate views, but by and large he is an author that defends the martyr case and the cause of Charles's memory because he doesn't argue: he presents the facts.
Partridge's writing style is brief, clear, and clean, but most commendably he is a master of selecting details that give focus to the argument of the neglect of King Charles. Yet, the argument is not made explicitly, but rather by allusion. Partridge carefully details the initial actions of the interested parties in Charles's day that had neither the resources, nor the power, to provide him with a more suitable burial. He continues to recount the processes and delays for a Restoration memorial through the reigns of Charles II and James II. He then provides the most ironic section of the book, "1649 to 1813," detailing the long period of ignoring Charles. Partridge furthers the unstated argument by providing details of Charles's relics being displayed without piety but as a "curiosity." He then carefully and fully describes the standard treatment dead English Royalty ordinarily would be served. The contrast with Charles's treatment cries out from the vault of Saint George's Chapel at Windsor castle.
Partridge's strengths as a historian are evident throughout, but his work with neglected primary sources is the volume's real contribution. Chapter twelve for example is a transcription and comments on Sir Henry Halford's account of the exhumation of Charles in 1813, unearthed when workmen accidentally broke through the unmarked vault in St George's Chapel. The exhumation revealed how the body of the King had been prepared for burial, which enables a comparison to be made between his and other royal burials of this period and furthers the case for Charles's neglect. Halford discusses medical evidence from the king's body, and strikes a fine balance on including thorough pathological detail without descending to the ghoulish, however, this chapter safely can be skipped by those whose piety or other proclivities would prevent review.
Chapter thirteen contains perhaps the one disappointment of this book: Partridge provides information of how the martyred King's resting place finally came to be marked with a slab of black granite in 1837 by King William IV. The information, but not the story; as Partridge notes "Exactly why William IV decided to have the site marked may never be known." Well, readers want to know the story, and Partridge has done such an excellent job teasing out the telling detail, correcting the misleading error, and synthesizing the available information so far the reader is left curious as to why he stops on this subject.
`O Horrable Murder' includes for the first time in print a transcription of the Tuesday, December 13th, 1888 account "REPLACING OF RELICS in THE GRAVE OF CHARLES I."
In a sadly annoying conclusion he lauds as a fitting epitaph for the Martyr King the Puritan poet Andrew Marvell's well-known lines about Charles, in a poem otherwise glorifying Oliver Cromwell. Well it is not a fitting epitaph, not nearly adequate enough, as Partridge's whole own book makes all too clear.
Partridge includes several excellent additions to his main subject matter that further illuminate his focus and provide useful guides. "Principal Players" for example, is a collection of sketches of the figures involved in Charles's life, imprisonment, trial, execution and burial. "The Banqueting House and the Window Leading to the Scaffold" is the best treatment ever regarding the specific window Charles's used to ascend the scaffold and meet his maker. "Signatories to The Death Warrant of King Charles I" collects all the usual suspects in one quick reference, but sadly does not come as a perforated detachable page for use as a darts target.
"The Death of A Monarch" provides detail on English royal burial customs that preceded and followed the death of King Charles, martyr, and serves to accentuate the level of neglect and impropriety he suffered. Those who wish to avoid technical, medical, and clinical treatments of the dead would be advised to skip the first 23 paragraphs (until the middle of page 162) of this appendix, and then continue on with the fascinating details about coffin ornamentation for royalty, the construction of life-like funeral effigies, and elaborate temporary monuments.
Appendix IV provides an introduction to the activities of The Sealed Knot, of which Partridge is a leading member. "The Society stages a wide variety of seventeenth century historical military reenactments, throughout the length and breadth of Great Britain." Partridge notes that the modern society of The Sealed Knot is "non-political...and includes both Royalists and Parliamentarians within its ranks." Of course the members of the original society of The Sealed Knot were loyal Royalists who eventually succeeded in restoring Charles II to the throne, although not without their own martyrs along the way.
The book includes 58 rare and seldom available illustrations that contribute helpful detail, many the author's own competently executed pen and ink sketches made to amplify historical points in the text. Most startling is the cover, which on first glance appears to be a close up photograph of the face of King Charles. It isn't of course, but rather a "soft-focus" photograph of his wax likeness at the famous Madame Tussaud's of London.
The Bibliography contains the usual secondary sources familiar to students of the English Civil Wars, however he also includes primary source surprises such as King Charles I, his Death, his Funeral, his Relics, by Edmund H. Fellows (Windsor Castle, 1950), and Essays and Orations, including An account of the opening of the Tomb of King Charles I, by Sir Henry Halford (John Murray, 1831). The index is quite good, but not exhaustive, and further editions would need improvement as it covers proper names only and excludes topics and subjects.
`O Horrable Murder' is printed by a very small London-based press, which no doubt accounts for its rather dear price. However, the material Partridge has sifted through, the detail he provides, and his particular focus makes it worthwhile to acquire.

I read the draft for Tim Chaffey's portion of the book about two years ago. Even then I thought it was the best book on creationism from a Biblical perspective that I have ever read. This is KEY: Tim puts Old Earth Creationism on trial from a Biblical perspective. (Dr. Lisle adds the scientific portion of the argument.) You do not need to be a theologian or a scientist to understand and benefit greatly from this book.

It is shocking to me how old earth creationists (OEC) hold to an inerrant, infallible, verbally inspired Bible, but then get all wishy-washy when dealing with the creation accounts in Genesis. Tim graciously and effectively demonstrates the weakness of the OEC interpretation.

If you are a young earth creationist, you will applaud this book. If you are an OEC, I think an honest reading will surprise you. Either way, your confidence in the reliability of Scripture will be strengthened.
(Disclaimer: I am a personal friend of Tim Chaffey and have appreciated his ministry through Midwest Apologetics.)

Very well written, but disturbing story of a woman's repressed memory of child abuse, rape and murder. I have no doubt that Eileen Franklin's father was guilty of some of Eileen's accusations, but I'm uncertain whether or not he murdered her friend. Eileen seems to have a lot of emotional issues that made me question her credibility, in addition to her constantly changing stories. But her mother, brother and sisters were able to corroborate on the abuse so at least some of what she said must have been true. I was engrossed in the book and had a hard time putting it down. Harry Maclean has done a great job.

Although the subject matter is a little dated, the book provides a fascinating insight into the mounting of a very novel mental defense. The reader can see how a criminal defense attorney investigates the facts, researchs novel legal theories, and formulates a cohesive legal strategy in an "open and shut case" for the prosecution. This book rates up there with Vince Bugliosi's crime books.