Freedom's Frontier - Softcover

Donald Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0719563437 ISBN 13: 9780719563430

Publisher: Hodder Hb, 2008

Synopsis

How does censorship affect our basic right to freedom? Donald Thomas gives a disturbing insight into what those in power consider too dangerous to be seen, or said, by ordinary people. Freedom's Frontier reveals how censorship has restricted freedom of expression in the past, including obscenity prosecutions of major and minor writers in the first half of the twentieth century, and continues to silence us in the present with the more insidious tool of political correctness. From the use of seditious libel proceedings to stop rumours of George V's bigamy to the Mutiny Act used to silence Communist publications in the 1920s; from the use of the Official Secrets Act to ban the publication of Spycatcher to the Salmon Rushdie controversy in 1989, Donald Thomas chronicles a broad range of censorship cases. Freedom's Frontier argues that although we have won greater freedom of expression in some areas, we have lost the absolute liberty of political expression that was present in the Victorian era. This is a timely and thought-provoking book that challenges the boundaries of censorship and questions the definitions of freedom in today's society.

About this title

About the Author:

Donald Thomas is the author of seven biographies and is also a respected novelist. He has won the Gregory Award for his poems POINTS OF CONTACT. He was born in Somerset and educated at Queen's College, Taunton and Balliol College, Oxford. He holds a personal chair at Cardiff University.

Review:

'Thomas' book on modern censorship is provocative, timely and disturbing' -- Iain Finlayson, The Times 'This survey of the authoritarian scissors over the past 400 years is one of the best I've read ... very entertaining on the perennial nonsense of censorship ... rich in incidental illustration' -- John Sutherland, Financial Times 'What wonderful examples of the sheer idiocy of state officials Professor Thomas records here' -- Sunday Telegraph 'Excellent, beautifully written' -- Country Life 'Often entertaining, impressively detailed' -- Morning Star 'Donald Thomas tackles the basic question: How does censorship affect our right to freedom? He reveals what the powerful consider too dangerous to be seen, or even said, by ordinary people' -- Diplomat 'An excellent history of our government's reluctance to let us say what we want' -- Metro Praise for Villains' Paradise: 'A thorough, clear and entertaining analysis of post-war criminality ... An impressive social and economic history' -- The Times 'Fresher and more challenging than fiction' -- Herald Praise for An Underworld at War: 'This is a wonderful book, the best I have read for ages. It is beautifully written, utterly compelling: almost without fault in every aspect' -- Literary Review 'Thomas provides an excellent history of our government's reluctance to let us say what we want' -- Robert Murphy, Metro London 'What wonderful examples of the sheer obstinate idiocy of state officials Professor Thomas records here' -- Alasdair Palmer, Sunday Telegraph It's an examination that's quite fascinating to read' -- Publishing News

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder Hb
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0719563437
• ISBN 13: 9780719563430
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416