This illustrated introduction to the crucial role of First Amendment rights and press freedom “enlightens and entertains readers of any age” (Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post critic).

Guardians of Liberty explores the essential and basic American ideal of freedom of the press. Allowing the American press to publish—even if what they’re reporting is contentious—without previous censure or interference by the federal government, was so important to the Founding Fathers that they placed a guarantee in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Citing numerous examples from America’s past, from the American Revolution to the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement to Obama’s and Trump’s presidencies, Linda Barrett Osborne shows how freedom of the press has played an essential role in the growth of this nation, allowing democracy to flourish. She further discusses how the freedoms of press and speech often work side by side, reveals the diversity of American news, and explores why freedom of the press is still imperative to uphold today.

“Nine chapters cover everything from the partisan press in Colonial and Revolutionary America to the incendiary rise of ‘fake news.’ . . . solid research and an engaging structure.” —School Library Journal

“An excellent foray into the hows and whys of U.S. press freedom, beginning just prior to nationhood . . . Timely, essential reading.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Includes endnotes, bibliography, and index.