Ten Great American Trials provides chapter-length accounts of some of the most highly publicized and fascinating court cases of the twentieth century. Each narrative contains an analysis of prosecutors' and defense attorneys' use of trial advocacy techniques (involving discovery, pre-trial motions, jury selection, direct testimony, cross-examination, the introduction of forensic exhibits, and summations) to craft compelling stories about what happened. The book also assesses the impact of cultural, social, and political values on the proceedings and the outcomes. The cases, several of which have been dubbed "the crime of the century," were selected because they are dramatic, suspenseful, emotional, intellectually powerful, and have become part of American culture.

Uncertainty about motives, guilt or innocence, it is worth noting, still haunt several of thesetrials. And every one of the cases has inspired a full length movie, a television series, and/or a documentary.

All ten trials shed light on one or more "hot button" issues: xenophobia, the death penalty, race, anti-communism, free speech rights, homosexuality, and child abuse. The trials covered are:

Sacco and Vanzetti

Leopold and Loeb

The Scottsboro Boys

United States v. Alger Hiss

The Village of Skokie v. The National Socialist Party of America

Dan White (the killer of Harvey Milk and George Moscone, the mayor of San Francisco)

Claus von Blow

The McMartin Preschool Sexual Abuse Case

O. J. Simpson