Prologue
The Battle of Brimstone Corner, April 1926
Part I: Early Days
Chapter 1
Founding Fathers, 1878
Chapter 2
First Forays into Censorship, 1881–1898
Chapter 3
Politics, Poker and the “Social Evil”
Chapter 4
Mrs. Glyn and Sin, 1903–1909
Chapter 5
Tough Guys and “Blue Bloods,” 1907–1925
Part II: The Watch and Ward Go to War
Chapter 6
New Bedford, 1916
Chapter 7
The Battle of Diamond Hill, 1917–1918
Chapter 8
Café Society, 1917–1919
Chapter 9
Corruption Fighters, 1913–1924
Part III: Decline and Fall
Chapter 10
Mencken versus Chase, Round 2, 1926
Chapter 11
Censorship Goes Wild, 1927–1928
Chapter 12
Boston, 1929
Chapter 13
The Dunster Bookshop Fiasco, 1929
Chapter 14
Depression Days, 1930–1938
Neil Miller teaches journalism at Tufts University and is the award-winning author of five nonfiction books. His most recent work, Kartchner Caverns, won the 2009 Arizona Book Award.
“…Miller’s book is rich with colorful anecdotes.”—Journal of
American History
“This is a superb example of breathtaking research, presented in a
style that will appeal to a broad audience…Rather than delivering a
detailed history of the Watch and Ward, he offers up a series of
vignettes that are historically accurate yet thoroughly
entertaining in their telling. This is social history at its
finest, and Miller should be applauded for resurrecting the history
of this influential group that had a national reputation.”—Choice
Reviews
"The fight for artistic freedom in America begins in Boston, and
Miller gives us a front-row seat."--Christopher M. Finan, president
of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and
author of From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act
"Miller relates a wealth of historical anecdotes...[they] left no
shortage of entertaining censorship initiatives for Miller to
recall here for readers' enjoyment."--Booklist
"As a catchphrase, 'banned in Boston' made history; as an
imprimatur it sold books." --Chronicle Review“With precision,
perception, and wry wit, Neil Miller serves up a juicy tale of
censorship past. From sex, drugs, and a swearing parrot to almost
anything French, Banned in Boston demonstrates that campaigns to
save us from ourselves never go out of fashion.”—Nan Levinson,
author of Outspoken: Free Speech Stories
“A lively history of the notorious Watch and Ward Society, which
for a century sought to establish decency by suppressing ‘obscene’
works by authors such as Boccaccio, Whitman, Dreiser, Faulkner, and
Mencken. This is a must read for anyone interested in understanding
how censorship ultimately destroys not indecency, but
freedom.”—Geoffrey R. Stone, author of Perilous Times: Free Speech
in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on
Terrorism
“I read this book with one eye over my shoulder, fully expecting
the Watch and Ward police to burst in and confiscate it for being
too provocative! But it would have been worth it. Neil Miller has
given us everything we could ask for in an enjoyable history—a
revealing subject, well-drawn characters, and a colorful portrait
of another era, all wrapped in a fast-paced, easy-to-read story.
Banned in Boston is a Boston gem.”—Stephen Puleo, author of A City
So Grand, The Boston Italians, and Dark Tide
“Neil Miller has created a fascinating and often funny history of a
time when censors ruled. The fight for artistic freedom in America
begins in Boston, and Miller gives us a front-row
seat.”—Christopher M. Finan, president of the American Booksellers
Foundation for Free Expression and author of From the Palmer Raids
to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in
America "As a catchphrase, "banned in Boston" made history; as
an imprimatur it sold books. Now telling its story in rollicking
fashion is Banned in Boston: The Watch and Ward Society's Crusade
Against Books, Burlesque, and the Social Evil (Beacon Press), by
Neil Miller..."- Chronicle Review“…Miller relates a wealth of
historical anecdotes regarding the likes of H. L. Mencken, Upton
Sinclair, and Walt Whitman …the society moved on to other matters
of perceived public good, but it left no shortage of entertaining
censorship initiatives for Miller to recall here for readers’
enjoyment.”-Booklist“Miller, who knew almost nothing about the
history of book banning in Boston before beginning research for his
book, was presented with the idea for this latest project by his
publishers at Beacon Press after they discovered that their office
was located in the old New England Watch and Ward Society
headquarters. Ironically enough, the building is now a hub of
dissemination of many of the types of literature that the society
once sought to ban, he said.”-The Tufts Daily“A fast-paced, highly
readable account of a forgotten…chapter in Boston’s history.”
-PhiloBiblos“Mr. Miller has provided a service by being the first
to document the entire history of the notorious Watch and Ward
Society, from its formation in 1878 to its last, dying gasps in the
1950s. The story is fascinating and often funny, and the author
(who teaches journalism at Tufts University) tells it with clarity
and perception.”- The Washington Times“Banned in Boston is Neil
Miller’s entertaining and informative account of the Society’s
activities from its founding through its heyday in the early
1960s…Banned in Boston provides a balanced look at a local movement
that represented a widespread – and continuing – tension within
American society.”- Suite 101
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