Free Speech and Why It Matters

Why It Matters

By: Andrew Doyle

Narrated by: Andrew Doyle

Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Free speech is the bedrock of all our liberties, and yet in recent years, it has come to be mistrusted. A new form of social justice activism, which perceives language as potentially violent, has prompted a national debate on where the limitations of acceptable speech should be drawn. Governments throughout Europe have enacted 'hate speech' legislation to curb the dissemination of objectionable ideas, Silicon Valley tech giants are collaborating to ensure that they control the limitations of public discourse, and campaigners in the US are calling for revisions to the First Amendment.

However well-intentioned, these trends represent a threat to the freedoms that our ancestors fought and died to secure. In this incisive and fascinating book, Andrew Doyle addresses head-on the most common concerns of free speech sceptics, and offers a timely and robust defence of this most foundational of principles.

©2021 Andrew Doyle (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"A fantastically timely book written by one of the smartest thinkers in Britain." (Piers Morgan)

"Impassioned, scholarly and succinct." (The Times)

The content is sad but true.

I hope we get truly free speech again some day. We need to end woke censorship.

Fight for Free Speech

This short book will provide you with some good ammunition when faced with the opportunity to defend free speech.

Easy read

This book is very surface-level in the debate about free speech. A very easy book to follow and understand — virtually no jargon and only pop-culture examples (so they are widely known). Do not read if you’re looking to win an argument, but very useful for an understanding of the issue.

McGrath is gonna be angry....

I mostly know Doyle from his alter ego, Titiana McGrath. In this book, Doyle shows his philosophical and rhetorical chops to be quite impressive. I'm actually prepared to sit down and listen again soon, although I will say the only sad part is those that should listen/read this book probably will not.

must read

perfect.....this book should be mandatory reading in all schools. Thank you for writing it.
Keep up the good fight.

Great book on impending dangers to liberty

Doyle has made a compelling case. An edict banning “hate “speech” is a very sharp blade, which in the hands of an as yet defined opportunist will cut the throats of the once masters that sharpened it.

Grateful to Andrew Doyle

Having this book on a High school reading list would be a step in the right direction.

Great arguments for why we need better discussions

When I pick up a book about the free speech, I'm never sure what I'm going to get. I'll either get well-thought arguments from authors like Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff or books with weak arguments that seem like a cash grab from authors like Dave Rubin and Gad Saad. So, when I read this new book from Andrew Doyle, I was pleasantly surprised in the best way. By far, this is one of the better books on the subject, and I really enjoyed it. It's a short read, but it packs a lot of power. 

In 2019, I was cancelled and had hundreds of thousands of strangers on the internet coming after me, so this is a topic that I'm interested in. I'm often conflicted because I'm quite liberal, and free speech is typically associated with the Right. When an author like Andrew Doyle comes around and is able to maturely discuss how there are awful people out there like Nazi's, but we need better conversations around free speech, I respect it. If you're interested in this subject as well, you should really grab a copy of this book.

Overall Reasonable Arguments

Not really understanding the simping for J. K. Rowling though. She has one of the loudest platforms and has not been silenced in any way as far as I can tell. Just a misandrist flailing and whining as the snake of progressivism eats itself, leaving her on a lower rung of the progressive stack.

There's an important distinction lacking in the discussion of the inception of gender ideology that is conspicuously missing. But the book is about free speech, so I wouldn't necessarily expect the author to be correct on this issue.

Least we forget

Andrew Doyle is right on point. The progressives are just as bad as any totalitarian regime. Humanity must stand up for our basic right of free speech least we forget the atrocities of the past if we want to preserve it for today and the future.