Indelible Ink
The Trials of John Peter Zenger and the Birth of America's Free Press
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
"Vivid storytelling built on exacting research." —Bill Keller, New York Times Book Review
In 1735, struggling printer John Peter Zenger scandalized colonial New York by launching a small newspaper, the New-York Weekly Journal. The newspaper was assailed by the new British governor as corrupt and arrogant, and as being a direct challenge against the prevailing law that criminalized any criticism of the royal government. Zenger was thrown in jail for nine months before his landmark one-day trial on August 4, 1735, in which he was brilliantly defended by Andrew Hamilton. In Indelible Ink, Pulitzer Prize–winning social historian Richard Kluger has fashioned the first book-length narrative of the Zenger case, rendering with colorful detail its setting in old New York and the vibrant personalities of its leading participants, whose virtues and shortcomings are assessed with fresh scrutiny often at variance with earlier accounts.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kluger, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Ashes to Ashes, celebrates the power of free expression in his book on John Peter Zenger's pioneering colonial newspaper, the New York Weekly Journal. Contextualizing the pre-revolutionary situation in which Zenger launched his paper, Kluger accurately describes the relentless royal prosecution of anyone printing anything without a license, which opened violators to charges of "seditious libel" in disturbing the peace and subversion. In 1710, Zenger became an apprentice to printer William Bradford, but Bradford was soon tried for libel, surviving when his suit was dismissed on a technicality. Zenger returned to Bradford's employ in 1725 before going on to produce his own four-page paper. In 1733, amid a messy, politicized environment of accusations, scandal, and power shifts, Zenger himself was charged with libel for revealing the aggressive, dominating policies of the British officials. He was jailed for nine months before his historic one-day trial. Framing his work with F.D.R.'s monumental 1941 "Four Freedoms" speech, Kluger produces a comprehensive tribute to Zenger's legal battle against censorship and reprisal, which sparked progressive thought later appearing in the basic political documents of the young American republic.
Customer Reviews
An important read
Hitler, Stalin and other tyrants have referred to the news media as an “enemy of the people.” This important volume illustrates that responsible journalists have, since the nation’s inception, been among its most stalwart heroes in the service of freedom. Though one may legitimately describe the first half of the book as a laborious trudge through the early political history of New York state, the narrative of the trial itself and preparation for it by Zenger’s counsel is fascinating. The epilogue is thought provoking.