Perilous Times Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism

Geoffrey Stone's Perilous Times incisively investigates how the First Amendment and other civil liberties have been compromised in America during wartime. Stone delineates the consistent suppression of free speech in six historical periods from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the Vietnam War, and ends with a coda that examines the state of civil liberties in the Bush era.

Full of fresh legal and historical insight, Perilous Times magisterially presents a dramatic cast of characters who influenced the course of history over a two-hundred-year period: from the presidents — Adams, Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt, and Nixon — to the Supreme Court justices — Taney, Holmes, Brandies, Black, and Warren — to the resisters — Clement Vallandingham, Emma Goldman, Fred Korematsu, and David Dellinger. Filled with dozens of rare photographs, posters, and historical illustrations, Perilous Times is resonant in its call for a new approach in our response to grave crises.

"Most timely, and of wide interest to civil libertarians and students of legal history." Kirkus Reviews

"A masterpiece of constitutional history, Perilous Times promises to redefine the national debate on civil liberties and free speech." Elena Kagan, Harvard Law School

"A lively, masterful history — and reminder — of the essential role of the First Amendment during the stresses of war." Bob Woodward, author of Plan of Attack

"Covering the bloodied turf from the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 to the current U.S.A. Patriot Act, this book is must reading for every citizen interested in something called the First Amendment." Studs Terkel

"So rich in material is Perilous Times, a chronicle of the tribulations of the 1st Amendment in wartime, that this scholarly yet highly readable book amounts to an anecdotal history of the United States itself, from the Founding Fathers to the present." Los Angeles Times

"This is great, dramatic, and absorbing legal history at its best — beautifully written, highly accessible, and critically important for our time." Jonathan Cole

"One closes this admirable book more than ever determined that the authors of the Constitution were right the first time, and that the only amendment necessary might be a prohibition on the passage of any law within six months of any atrocity, foreign or domestic." Christopher Hitchens, The New York Times Book Review

"The constitutional right of American citizens to examine their government has invariably faded in times of violent conflict. This is an ominous precedent because we are now embroiled in a potentially endless battle, whether or not it qualifies as a war. By chronicling the most serious historical deviations from our ordinary constitutional order, therefore, Geoffrey Stone's outstanding book alarms as much as it clarifies. As the current administration flouts the Constitution in genuinely groundbreaking ways, it is also exposing the rest of us to dangers hitherto unknown." Stephen Holmes, The New Republic (read the entire New Republic review)