Cover Freedom of the Press
series "Universale Paperbacks il Mulino"
pp. 240, Brossura, 978-88-15-28657-4
publication year 2020

PIERLUIGI ALLOTTI

Freedom of the Press

From the 16th Century to Today

This book tells the long history of freedom of the press, from the initial struggles against censorship in the early modern age to the present day. Freedom of the press is a right originally established in 17th-century England as a corollary to freedom of conscience, then sanctioned at the end of the 18th century by France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The outbreak of the Great War and the advent of totalitarianism put a temporary stop to the progress of press freedom, which was officially endorsed at the international level in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet even now many countries continue to deny these fundamental rights and persecute journalists.

Pierluigi Allotti, a professional journalist and a scholar of contemporary history, teaches History of Journalism at the Sapienza University in Rome.

Introduzione
I. Papi e monarchi censori
II. Londra 1695
III. Parigi 1789
IV. Filadelfia 1798
V. Tra restaurazione e rivoluzione
VI. La libertà in America
VII. Il Quarantotto
VIII. Il trionfo
IX. L’eclissi
X. La libertà totalitaria
XI. La crociata americana
XII. Comunisti e anticomunisti
XIII. Il Sessantotto
XIV. La libertà d’antenna
XV. I nemici di oggi
Conclusioni
Indice dei nomi