Crisis in Freedom. By John C. Miller. Special Edition. Classics of Liberty Library. Delanco, 2002.

John C. Miller was a prominent American historian in the twentieth century. He wrote several major biographies and histories on the American Revolution and the nation’s earliest years. Among them, Crisis in Freedom stands out for its subject matter and critique of an early controversy in American history. It takes aim at the Alien and Sedition Acts of the late 1790s. These laws made it illegal to criticize the president and congress. They were clear contradictions to the First Amendment, but president John Adams signed them into law regardless. In Crisis in Freedom, Miller untangles that early example of the challenges to the First Amendment in clear prose and well-researched arguments. It is considered the best work on this small yet consequential part of early American history.

This special edition is in fine condition. In the original quarter leather, finely gilt stamped. Raised bands. Gilt spine label. Text block fine. Gilt edges. Faux marbled endpapers and bookmark sewn in. With the publisher’s pamphlet laid in.

A fine special edition of Crisis in Freedom.