State of Silence: The Espionage Act and the Rise of America's Secrecy Regime

State of Silence: The Espionage Act and the Rise of America’s Secrecy Regime explores the governmental security apparatus surrounding the Espionage Act. NEH Public Scholar Sam Lebovic, a political historian, explores the government’s system for classifying information and argues that it is costly, shrouded in secrecy, and prevents American citizens from knowing what actions their government takes, both at home and abroad. State of Silence explores how the Espionage Act ballooned from its intended use to punish critics of World War I when it was first passed in 1917 to the complicated, black-boxed system that it is now.  

The New Yorker named State of Silence a best book of 2023, and praises Lebovic for bringing to light tangible harms of the Espionage Act. 

Read an excerpt from State of Silence at NEH’s Humanities magazine.