
Published on AugustĀ 2007.


Widely known for his attacks on America's Puritan tradition and its booboisie, H.L. Mencken was perhaps the most influential American journalist of the first half of the 20th century. His coverage of the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" trial ridiculed defense attorney William Jennings Bryan for his "peculiar imbecilities" and "theologic bilge."