BOOKS
THE TRIAL - TOM HAYDON “Our crime was our identity.” Reminescent of a Jew talking about Nazi persecution, Tom Hayden tells how he felt during the six months in Julius Hoffman’s Chicago courtroom. In The Trial, Hayden’s new book, he gives the first complete account of the Chicago Conspiracy Trial and more.
BOOKS
THE TRIAL - TOM HAYDON
“Our crime was our identity.”
Reminescent of a Jew talking about Nazi persecution, Tom Hayden tells how he felt during the six months in Julius Hoffman’s Chicago courtroom.
In The Trial, Hayden’s new book, he gives the first complete account of the Chicago Conspiracy Trial and more. “Our crime was that we were beginning to live a new and contagious life-style without official authorization. We were tried for being out of control.”
In his introduction, Hayden says of the trial “It was something out of Kafka’s imagination — six months of living in Judge Hoffman’s neon oven...” Kafka’s book of the same name could have been the fictionalized forerunner of the reality they experienced and presumably why Hayden used the title.
In his easy, rambling style, Hayden not only gives a clear documented account of the infamous trial, but also offers programs for change, explanations of complex problems, and new insights into the movement. It is without bitterness and without rhetoric that he writes, relying more on a common sense evaluation in expressing his views.