The Springs of Liberty takes up questions of literary history and theory and explores sources of power harnessed by modern political doctrines and the journalism that conveys them to the public. These forces of opinion are traced to a tradition deeper and older than either: satire. In that tradition—its power, diversity, and license—the author locates the spirit of free speech.

"Do we deserve a book as fine as The Springs of Liberty? This work is at once conservative, bold, and startlingly original. Stewart Justman writes not just with brilliance and broad learning, lightly worn, but also with a simplicity, moral passion, and humane judiciousness that are remote from academic style. . . . [O]ne of the wisest and most penetrating critics now among us." —Frederick Crews