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No understanding of the past is complete without an understanding of the legal battles and struggles that have done so much to shape it. Inside a survey of world history's greatest trials are the key insights to critical issues we still talk about today, including freedom of speech, the death penalty, religious freedom, and the meaning of equality. Join Professor Linder for these 24 lectures that investigate important legal cases from around the world and across the centuries. From the trials of Socrates in ancient Athens and Thomas More in Henry VIII's England to the Nuremburg Trials in the wake of World War II and the media frenzy of the O. J. Simpson murder case, you'll discover what each of these trials has to teach us about ourselves and our civilization. Professor Linder takes you back in time to revisit some of history's most famous trials from fresh perspectives that ground them in the evolution of human ideas of law and justice, including the Salem Witch Trials, and the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. You'll also encounter less familiar (but equally important) legal battles, including medieval trials by ordeal and the Trial of Giordano Bruno, which would impact the later trial of Galileo. For years, Professor Linder has studied the fascinating intersection between history and jurisprudence. Now he's crafted these lectures to share that fascination with you. All Lectures: 1. The Trial of Socrates 2. The Trial of Gaius Verres 3. Three Medieval Trials 4. The Trial of Sir Thomas More 5. The Trial of Giordano Bruno 6. The Salem Witchcraft Trials 7. The Boston Massacre Trials 8. The Aaron Burr Conspiracy Trial 9. The Amistad Trials 10. The Dakota Conflict Trials 11. The Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy Trial 12. The Trial of Louis Riel 13. The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde 14. The Trial of Sheriff Joseph Shipp 15. The Leopold and Loeb Trial 16. The Scopes Monkey Trial 17. The Trials of the "Scottsboro Boys" 18. The Nuremberg Trials 19. The Alger Hiss Trial 20. The Rivonia (Nelson Mandela) Trial 21. The Mississippi Burning Trial 22. The Trial of the Chicago Eight 23. The McMartin Preschool Abuse Trial 24. The O. J. Simpson Trial

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