Necessary Secrets: National Security, the Media, and the Rule of Law

“Essential reading for anyone seriously interested in national security and freedom of the press.”—Leonard Downie Jr., Washington Post

Gabriel Schoenfeld “brilliantly illuminates” (Wall Street Journal) a growing rift between a press that sees itself as the heroic force promoting the public’s “right to know” and a government that needs to safeguard information vital to the effective conduct of foreign policy. A masterful contribution to the enduring challenge of interpreting the First Amendment, Necessary Secrets offers a gripping account of how our national security, now and across the American past, has been compromised by disclosure of classified information.