Monkey business

So having read the photographic history of and a play inspired by the Scopes trial, I'd really have to say that reading Inherit the Wind helped a lot in my understanding of the trial.
Reading a fictional version of the trial not only makes the historical figures into characters that can be related to, and not just another scientist or religion-ist. Putting the long legal documents into spoken dialogue made it easier to understand.
While one might not want to use Inherit the Wind while presenting a report on the facts of the Scopes Trial, the play does do an extraordinary job of getting across the basic point of the major conflict that made this trial famous.
While the histories mainly told about what happened during the trial, the play gave a clearer view of some of the things that could have happened AROUND the trial. Prayer meetings and tension between characters. The personalities of the lawyers and the witnesses.
Historical fiction such as this can give an entirely different perspective to issues like this trial. I think Inherit the Wind is a must for anyone hoping to understand the conflict of belief that made the Scopes trial such a famous event.