" In general, I have liked the Pulitzer Prize winners in History books and have read many of the more recent ones. I didn't like this one as much as the others. It is well written, but you have to take it a little bit slower than you would otherwise to really understand what the author is saying. You would like this if you like Philosophy because it really is a book about some of the famous American philosophers post Civil War era - like William James, Dewey, Peirce and Holmes. The main premise is that some of the "rights" that we enjoy today - like freedom of speech, weren't really part of our society's expectation until some of these men articulated that and made it a part of our culture. "
— Willis, 2/17/2014