Charles A. Israel is an associate professor of history and Chair of the History Department at Auburn University. His current research addresses religion and social reform in the nineteenth and twentieth century American South.
Before Scopes is a worthy contribution to southern history. I am
very impressed with Israel's research, scholarship, and
sophisticated arguments. This should become a standard reference
point in works on southern religious and cultural history, standing
with recent works by Ted Ownby and Beth Schweiger, among
others.--Paul Harvey "author of Freedom's Coming: How Religious
Culture Shaped the South from Civil War through Civil Rights "
Through a nuanced historical study of the attitudes of Tennessee
Evangelicals to the place of religion in public education, Before
Scopes sheds new light on the local context for the state's
legendary 1925 antievolution law and the resulting trial of John
Scopes. Many of the historical tensions chronicled in this book
continue to strain American society and public education
today.--Edward J. Larson "author of Summer for the Gods: The Scopes
Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion
"
Before Scopes is gracefully written and thoroughly researched. . .
. This study deserves the attention of all who are interested in
the role of religion in public education.--Journal of the American
Academy of Religion
With the resurgence of evangelicalism in today's society and its
concomitant influence on education, politics, and mores, Before
Scopes has relevance to current differences and their
repercussions.--Midwest Book Review
Israel skillfully contexualizes the Scopes trial and, without
neglecting the intellectual conflict involved, clearly demonstrates
that the broader and more significant issue was control of public
education in a democratic society. Before Scopes complements the
growing literature that undermines the portrayal of southern
religion as individualistic and otherworldly. It also demonstrates
that future studies on fundamentalism in the South would benefits
from the type of contextual labor invested in by Israel.--Journal
of Southern History
Studies such as Israel's contribute an important historical
perspective. . . . While most examinations of the famous Scopes
'monkey trial' trace the consequences of that event, Israel has
gone back in time to expose social, cultural, religious, and
political roots of the Tennessee antievolution law that set the
table for the highly publicized legal battles. . . . The author
brings a refreshing and much-needed understanding of southern
religion to his work.--Register of Kentucky Historical Society
Helps illuminate the issues that give the Scopes trial such lasting
historiographical value: marjoritarianism, Southern
distinctiveness, the rise of fundamentalism, and schooling in a
pluralistic society.--History: Reviews of New Books
Offers an intriguing look at how a certain set of evangelicals in
one southern state conceived of their own path of
modernity.--Southern Historian
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