Washington and Lee University
Need an overview of a particular trial and/or the issues involved?
You can use the sources below for authoritative, reliable accounts.
Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide
This 2007 volume includes: thematic essays exploring the events, including historical background, interpretations, and aftermath; biographical sketches; 50 primary document excerpts, including petitions, letters, and revealing trial testimony; a chronology of events; a glossary of key names, terms, and language used at the trials.
Famous American Crimes and Trials
Five-volume set (2004) contains over 50 chronologically-arranged accounts of famous crimes and trials in American history, including descriptions of the crimes within historical context, the cast of characters, the trials themselves, and media involvement.
Crimes and Trials of the Century
Two-volume set (2007) contains chronologically-arranged accounts of about 35 trials of the past century, beginning with the Black Sox scandal (1919) and continuing to the 21st-century Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.
2011 volume contains outlines of 100 trials, ranging chronologically from Socrates to Saddam Hussein.
Gale Encyclopedia of American Law
This is the e-book version of the 14-volume printed set (2010), containing 5,000 entries covering "persons, entities, and events that have shaped the U.S. legal system and influenced public perceptions of it."
Guide to cases, personalities, and controversies that have redefined the court/press relationship in the past century as the media expanded from print and radio to courtroom cameras, cable, and the World Wide Web.
Dictionary of American History
This is the third edition (2003) of the most comprehensive encyclopedia on American history, comprising ten volumes in printed form. The 4,400 signed articles range in length up to 7,000 words.