Review by Booklist Review
Writing in 1912, British historian J. B. Bury challenged the belief that freedom of speech is "a natural right," arguing that "this right has been acquired only in recent times, and the way to its attainment has lain through lakes of blood." Mchangama chronicles the turbulent history of this right from ancient to modern times. After probing the reasons Socrates died as the first martyr for free speech, he assesses the Christian challenge to Rome, discussing the emergence of religion as the issue that long tested limits of free expression in the West, filling deep lakes with the blood spilt during wars fought between religionists intent on making all voices echo their own orthodoxy. The text shows how religious censors eventually retreated, in part because Spinoza, Paine, Carlile, Mill, and others cogently argued that intellectual progress depended on free expression. But readers will see that modern secular ideologues--notably Fascists and Communists--have attacked free speech as brutally as religious inquisitors. Turning to in the twenty-first-century, Mchangama limns the strange evolution that turned progressive activists celebrating social media enabling Obama to defy establishment control into advocates of "content moderation," censorship intended to still the Twitter storms of Trump and his supporters. A provocative exploration of a transformative political right.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
McHangama, founder of the Danish think thank Justitia, documents centuries-long tensions over "equal and uninhibited discourse" in this impassioned defense of free speech. Making a persuasive argument that free discourse is essential to democracy, breaking down systems of oppression, and challenging existing social hierarchies, McHangama profiles advocates, including 19th-century liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill, who warned against the "stifling effects of social norms" on freedom of speech; founding father James Madison, whose draft of the First Amendment described freedom of the press as "one of the great bulwarks of liberty"; and the ninth-century Persian physician al-Rāzī, who "was highly critical of the restrictions religious fanaticism placed on free thought." McHangama also incisively analyzes "the process of entropy" that leads political leaders--"no matter how enlightened"--to "inevitably convince themselves that now free speech has gone too far," and debunks arguments in favor of censorship, including claims that the lack of prohibitions against totalitarian propaganda in Weimar Germany facilitated the rise of the Nazis. Readers on both the right and the left seeking insights into modern-day debates over free speech will welcome this evenhanded and wide-ranging history. (Feb.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Journalist McHangama has written an insightful, nicely woven history that provides a coherent picture of how free speech has developed globally. From ancient Greece to the internet's gigabytes, this account contends there has been a constant push-and-pull of whether freedom of speech is granted to the masses or solely held by the ruling elite. During his research, McHangama noticed patterns where people were granted the freedom to express their ideas but became vituperative and repressive to those who had more radical ideas. Using numerous anecdotes, the author makes this well-researched narrative both informative and entertaining as he recounts accusations of heresy and restrictions on the freedom of religion during the Inquisition and Martin Luther's invention of the printing press, which challenged conventional ideas of disseminating news. McHangama argues that all ideas must be shared in order for democracies to survive and he warns against tech corporations, such as Twitter or Facebook, controlling speech on their platforms. VERDICT With accessible and engaging writing, McHangama's book is a highly recommended intellectual history for casual readers and those interested in the currency of free speech.--Jacob Sherman, Univ. of Texas at San Antonio
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A comprehensive history of free speech from ancient to modern times. In this well-researched and highly readable book, Copenhagen-based writer Mchangama, host of the podcast series Clear and Present Danger: A History of Free Speech, traces the history of free speech around the world, examining the views of both its advocates and its suppressors. The author effectively demonstrates how much we have gained by the spread of free speech as well as what we stand to lose if we allow its continued erosion. Mchangama begins with ancient civilizations--"Judging from surviving law codes and writings, the great ancient civilizations protected the power and authority of their rulers from the speech of their subjects, not the other way around"--and ends with a discussion of the current content moderation and transparency problems of social media platforms, which allow the spread of disinformation and hate speech. Throughout history, Mchangama shows, numerous groups and individuals have diligently worked on the advancement of free speech, including Socrates, Johannes Gutenberg, John Milton, Franklin Roosevelt, and Nelson Mandela. While fighting for their cause, champions of free speech have faced leaders who have tried to rein in speech when they felt threatened. These efforts at suppression have included the banning of books, distribution of propaganda, attacks on the media, and even the imprisonment or murder of journalists. Today, as we continue to fight to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, censorship, lies, and conspiracy theories abound, and the legitimacy of the current presidency is being erroneously questioned. However, notes Mchangama, "while online expression may sometimes lead to real-life harm, it does not necessarily follow that placing restrictions on free speech is an effective remedy." At the same time, as the author points out with respect to attempts to overthrow democracy, free speech should be accompanied by "a zero-tolerance policy toward organized threats, intimidations, and violence by groups seeking to establish parallel systems of authority." A well-structured and compelling examination of the costs and benefits of free speech. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
