The saga of the Duke lacrosse team members' alleged rape of an African-American stripper and the unraveling of the case against them. Covering all five aspects of the case (personal, legal, academic, political, and media), journalist Taylor and historian Johnson argue that law enforcement, a campaigning prosecutor, biased journalists, and left-leaning academics repeatedly refused to pursue the truth while scapegoats were made of these young men, recklessly tarnishing their lives. The story sheds new light on the dangers of rogue prosecutors and police and a cultural tendency toward media-fueled travesties of justice, and has broad political, racial, and cultural relevance to our times.--From publisher description.