Beacon Announces Series on Free Speech History

Beacon Press

Beacon Press, an independent publisher of serious non-fiction and fiction for over 150 years, announced today that it will publish a series of books about the history of freedom of speech in the United States. The Beacon series will explore the widespread denial of free speech during the first 150 years of our history; the emergence of an organized fight for free speech in the years after World War I, and the many battles that have been fought over free speech in recent years. “Beacon Press publishes books that try to change the way that people think about fundamental issues. We believe that exploring the history of free speech is essential to ensuring that our understanding and respect for the First Amendment continue to grow,” Beacon Director Helene Atwan said.

            The new series will consist of books of approximately 65,000 words and is intended mainly for a popular audience. Potential authors include historians, journalists, and people who work for the growing number of organizations that defend free speech.

            The series will be edited by Christopher Finan, a free speech activist and historian, and Brian Halley of Beacon Press. Finan is the president of the American Booksellers Foundation of Free Expression and the author of Beacon’s From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America (2007). Finan will have primary responsibility for soliciting and reviewing proposals. Halley will acquire and edit the books.
            Beacon has played a distinguished role in the fight for free speech. It published the first full-edition of the Pentagon Papers in 1971, just months after the Nixon administration tried unsuccessfully to block the publication of excerpts by the New York Times and Washington Post. Nixon retaliated by subpoenaing the bank records of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the owner of Beacon Press. Beacon has also published many fiercely independent authors, including Howard Zinn, Paul Robeson, Herbert Marcuse, James Baldwin, Ben Bagdikian, Lani Guinier, Leslie Feinberg, Cornell West, and more recently, Stacy Mitchell.

            Authors interested in submitting proposals for the new free speech series should contact Chris Finan, finan@mindspring.com.