In the Shadow of the Innocents

A brilliant young professor and his sponsor, a Nobel Prize laureate, the President of a major university, the Chairman of the university's Board of Trustees, a powerful scientist and his protégé, a college graduate out on her first job, a wise old Frenchman raconteur, and the richest woman in America comprise the cast of characters of In the Shadow of the Innocents. When the brilliant young professor is caught in an act of civil disobedience, powerful interests within the university conspire in an effort to send him to prison for violation of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). The struggle matches the opponents and proponents of animal research against each other in an exploration of animal research and what it means, the part universities play in fostering animal research, the constitutionality of the AETA, the role of government agencies in dispensing the taxpayers' money to fund animal research projects, and the wider implications of animal research for the world.