Wicked, Wicked Libels

‘The law of libel is the instrument of censorship by which dignity—too often pseudo-dignity—is to be upheld.’ That is Michael Rubinstein’s definition in his introduction to this lively and authoritative account Wicked, Wicked Libels (originally published in 1972) of the libel situation in Britain.

The contributors are all actively concerned about libel as a living issue. Michael Rubinstein writes first about ‘the popular appetite for scandal’, and the other contributors view libel from vario...