What Is Free Speech? - The History of a Dangerous Idea

Fara Dabhoiwala argues that free speech, though a central democratic value, owes its origin and evolution less to high-minded ideals than to venal interests. Shaped by greed, technological change, and the insoluble challenges of slander and falsehood, free speech is inherently contradictory-both a basis of liberty and a weapon of the powerful.

About the author

Fara Dabhoiwala is Senior Research Scholar at Princeton University and author of The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution. Formerly on faculty at the University of Oxford, he is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, All Souls College, and Exeter College.

Product details

• Authors: Fara Dabhoiwala
• Publisher: University Presses
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 05.08.2025
• EAN: 9780674987319
• ISBN: 978-0-674-98731-9
• Dimensions: 156 mm x 235 mm x 30 mm
• Weight: 837 g
• Subjects: USA, HISTORY / Modern / General, LAW / Legal History, HISTORY / World, HISTORY / United States / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Censorship, General & world history, Legal History, United States of America, USA, General and world history, History of the Americas, Ethical Issues: Censorship