The urge to censor is as old as the urge to speak. From the first Chinese emperor's wholesale elimination of books to the Vatican's suppression of pornography, right up to the attack on Charlie Hebdo and the advent of Internet troll armies in this century, words, images and ideas have always been hunted down by those trying to suppress them.

In this compelling account, Eric Berkowitz reveals why and how humanity has, from the beginning, sought to silence itself. Ranging from the absurd – such as Henry VIII's decree of death for anyone who 'imagined' his demise – to claims by American slave owners that abolitionist literature should be supressed because it hurt their feelings, Berkowitz takes the reader on an unruly ride through history, highlighting the use of censorship to reinforce class, race and gender privilege, and to guard against offence.

Elucidating phrases like 'fake news' and 'hate speech', Dangerous Ideas exposes the dangers of erasing history, how censorship has shaped our modern society and what forms it is taking today – and to what disturbing effects.



Eric Berkowitz is a writer, lawyer and journalist. Before devoting his practice to public interest and asylum law, he practiced intellectual property and civil litigation in Los Angeles for more than twenty years. Berkowitz has published widely throughout his career, including investigative pieces in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and articles in the Washington Post and The Economist, among others. His previous books include the critically acclaimed Sex and Punishment: Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire (also by The Westbourne Press), and The Boundaries of Desire: A Century of Bad Laws, Good Sex, and Changing Identities. He lives in San Francisco, California.