The Last Trials of Clarence Darrow

From the time I first saw Inherit the Wind, I admired Clarence Darrow.  The tensions created by the play between Darrow and William Jennings Bryan made me think for a couple of years about becoming a lawyer. (In the end I did not!)   My brother met Darrow's son on the beaches of LA, near the end of my time in high school.  So my interest in Darrow has always been high.

This new biography focuses on several of his most visible cases.   It weaves a narrative between his role in the McNamara bombing cases, where Darrow does not come off well, to his defenses in Leopold and Loeb through the Scopes trial.  Donald Mcrae has a wonderful sense of telling the story of these long ago events in a way that gives you an understanding of many of Darrow's engagements were called "the trial of the century."

I read this in the Kindle edition.  I use the Kindle Ap on my iPad when I am flying somewhere.   One complaint about the book - I found that I simply did not want to put it down.  Mcrae is so skillful at bringing back these long ago cases that I simply did not want to stop.