David K. Shipler s Freedom Of Speech Mightier Than The...

I’ve not had the pleasure of reading a nonfiction book as intriguing and enjoyable as David K. Shipler’s Freedom of Speech: Mightier Than the Sword in a long time. The pages brought to life stories of secrecy and conspiracy, of authority and rebellion, and of missteps by public figures readers like myself often only get an outsider’s glimpse of. After first reading the introduction, however, I wasn’t sure how I felt; I couldn’t fully grasp what Shipler was saying and was concerned that the rest of the book would elicit similar feelings. Thankfully, those fears were alleviated only pages into Part I: Books. I found Shipler’s style of writing incredibly engaging and easy to follow, and the case studies were both interesting and new to†¦show more content†¦Shipler’s awareness of human beings’ tendency toward biases such as this one led me to wonder, first, whether he would avoid allowing his own points of view on vario us matters to influence his writing. I was pleased to discover that he did an exemplary job at stating facts without â€Å"choosing a side,† focusing, rather, on representing opposing sides and humanizing all individuals, no matter which side of a debate they fell on. The second question I found myself coming back to throughout my reading is closely related to the first: what are Shipler’s own views on the matters he is writing about? I can recall very few moments during which he explicitly offered his own opinion (such as describing himself as a near absolutist regarding the First Amendment in the introduction). This consistent neutrality accomplishes two great feats. First, Shipler shows the reader that he is both professional and experienced in writing on controversial topics as the ones covered in Freedom of Speech. Second, by giving all parties a platform to state their feelings and reasoning, this book becomes accessible to all represented sides of these de bates. As previously stated, people unconsciously seek out sources that support their side – Freedom of Speech paradoxically manages to simultaneously support all sides while supporting