In 1969, the Chicago Seven were charged with intent to "incite, organize, promote, and encourage" antiwar riots during the chaotic 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The defendants included major figures of the antiwar and racial justice movements: Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, the madcap founders of the Yippies; Tom Hayden and Rennie Davis, longtime antiwar organizers; David Dellinger, a pacifist and chair of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam; and Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, who would be bound and gagged in the courtroom before his case was severed from the rest. The Chicago Conspiracy Trial is an electrifying account of the months-long trial that commanded the attention of a divided nation. John Schultz, on assignment for The Evergreen Review, witnessed the whole trial of the Chicago Seven, from the jury selection to the aftermath of the verdict. In his vivid account, Schultz exposes the raw emotions, surreal testimony, and judicial prejudice that came to define one of the most significant legal events in American history. In October 2020, Aaron Sorkin's film, The Trial of the Chicago Seven, will bring this iconic trial to the screen.

ジョン・シュルツの筆致は単なる法廷記録を凌駕し、国家権力と若き反逆者たちが激突する歴史の特異点を鮮烈に描きます。傍聴席から全貌を目撃した彼が綴る言葉には、司法の体裁が崩壊する狂気と被告たちの生々しい情熱が宿っています。これは正義を問う物語ではなく、激動の時代そのものを抉り出す壮絶なドキュメントなのです。 映画版は洗練された台詞で高揚感を与えますが、原作には映像が削ぎ落とした沈黙の重圧や、泥臭い司法の不条理が克明に刻まれています。映画で物語の骨組みを味わい、本書で当時の息苦しい臨場感に触れる。この相乗効果こそが、現代にも通じる自由への問いをより深く、鋭く研ぎ澄ませてくれるはずです。