In Defense of American Liberties : A History of the ACLU

New York, NY, U.S.A.: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1990. Trade Paperback. Near Fine. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Card-carrying members and non-members alike will find this history of the nation's main civil liberties organization fascinating, following its eighty-year fight against a wide variety of injustices, including the internment of Japanese Americans, anti-Communist witch hunts, and racial prejudice. Walker (criminal justice, Univ. of Nebraska), an active American Civil Liberties Union member who had complete access to its archives, has written a comprehensive history of this unique and often controversial organization, which will celebrate its 70th anniversary next month. What emerges is a candid but sympathetic account of the ACLU's triumphs and defeats, its strengths and failings, and fascinating pen pictures of its charismatic but often quarrelsome leaders, particularly Roger Baldwin, who was the ACLU's first executive director until forced out in 1950 after 30 years. Walker makes plain that it was by fearlessly championing unpopular or even "dangerous" ideas of the time that the ACLU became a major force in shaping American attitudes on civil liberties. Highly recommended. - Harry Frumerman. 479 pages. Top rear corner of spine bumped and rubbed. The four outside corner tips are slightly rubbed and curled up..