State of Silence: The Espionage Act and the Rise of America's Secrecy Regime

An "essential guide" (Beverly Gage, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of G-Man) to how the Espionage Act gave rise to a vast American security state that keeps citizens in the dark

In State of Silence, political historian Sam Lebovic uncovers the troubling history of the Espionage Act. First passed in 1917, it was initially used to punish critics of World War I. Yet as Americans began to balk at the act’s restrictions on political dissidents and the press, the government turned its focus toward...