Book Review: Freedom of Speech: Documents Decoded

Abstract

David L. Hudson’s Freedom of Speech: Documents Decoded is another addition to the ABC-CLIO Documents Decoded series. Hudson, a prolific author of American legal issues, demonstrates his breadth of knowledge of the history of free speech in the United States in this volume. The Documents Decoded series volumes represent a new type of encyclopedia in which primary-source documents constitute the main texts. These primary-source documents are coupled with annotations by the authors that provide illuminating contextual information and situate the documents within broader events of the time. Hudson’s Freedom of Speech follows this format and focuses largely on federal legal cases, but it also includes important speeches that either addressed freedom of speech or represented national tests to the limits of freedom of speech.