{"product_id":"the-price-of-silence-the-duke-lacrosse-scandal-the-power-of-the-elite-and-the-corruption-of-our-great-universities-9781451681796","title":"The Price of Silence: The Duke Lacrosse Scandal  the Power of the Elite  and the Corruption of Our Great Universities","description":"\u003cp\u003eA Duke alumnus whose work has been hailed as authoritative (The Washington Post)  seductively engrossing (Chicago Tribune)  riveting (The Economist)  and masterful (Los Angeles Times)  presents a stunning new account of the infamous Duke lacrosse team case.  Bestselling author William D. Cohan  whose reporting and writing have been hailed as gripping (the New York Times)  authoritative (the Washington Post)  and seductively engrossing (Chicago Tribune)  presents a stunning new account of the Duke lacrosse team scandal that reveals the pressures faced by Americas elite colleges and universities and pulls back the curtain  in a riveting narrative  on the larger issues of sexual misconduct  underage drinking  and bad-boy behaviorall too prevalent on campuses across the country.  Despite being front-page news nationwide  the true story of the 2006 Duke lacrosse team rape case has never been told in its entirety and is more complex than all the reportage to date would indicate. The Price of Silence is the definitive  magisterial account of what happens when the most combustible forces in American culture unbridled ambition  intellectual elitism  athletic prowess  aggressive sexual behavior  racial bias  and absolute prosecutorial authoritycollide and then explode on a powerful university campus  in the justice system  and in the media.  What transpired at Duke followed upon the universitys unprecedented and determined effort to compete directly with the Ivy League for the best students and with its Division I rivals for supremacy in selected sportsmost famously mens basketball  where Duke has become a perennial powerhouse and the winner of four national championships. As Cohan brilliantly shows  the pursuit of excellence in such diverse realms put extraordinary strains on the campus culture andwarned some longtime Duke observerswarped the universitys academic ethos. Duke became known for its work hard  play hard dynamic  and specifically for its wild off-campus parties  where it seemed almost anything could happenand often did.  Cohans reconstruction of the scandals eventsthe night in question  the local police investigation  Dukes actions  the lacrosse players defense tactics  the furious campus politicsis meticulous and complete. Readers who think they know the story are in for more than one surprise  for at the heart of it are individuals whose lives were changed forever. As the scandal developed  different actors fought to control the narrative. At stake were not just the futures of the accused players  the reputation of the woman claiming she was raped  and the career of the local prosecutor  but also the venerable and carefully nurtured name of Duke University itselfthe Duke brand  exceedingly valuable when competing for elite students  world-class athletes  talented professors  and the financial support of its nationally prominent  deep-pocketed alumni. The battle for power involved the Duke administration  led by its president  Richard Brodhead  a blazing academic star hired away from Yale; the Duke board of trustees  which included several titans of Wall Street; the faculty  comprising a number of outspoken critics of the lacrosse players; the athletes parents  many of whom were well connected in Washington and New York and ableand willingto hire expensive counsel to defend their sons; and  ultimately  the justice system of North Carolina  which took over the controversial case and rendered its judgment.  The price of resolving the scandal proved extraordinarily high  both in terms of unexpected human suffering and the stratospheric costs of settling legal claims. The Price of Silence is a story unlike any other  yet sheds light on what is really happening on campuses around the country as colleges and universities compete urgently with one another  and confirms William Cohans preeminent reputation as one of the most lively and insightful journalists working today.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45646950989877,"sku":"ByrdShop_1451681798","price":20.41,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781451681796.jpg?v=1781683051","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-price-of-silence-the-duke-lacrosse-scandal-the-power-of-the-elite-and-the-corruption-of-our-great-universities-9781451681796","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}