DeRobigne Mortimer Bennett (1818-1882) was 19th-century America's most
controversial publisher and free-speech martyr. But Bennett's opposition to dogmatic religion and
puritanical obscenity laws so infuriated Anthony Comstock, the US Post
Office's 'special agent' and self-proclaimed 'weeder in God's garden',
that the freethinking publisher was eventually prosecuted, subjected to a
controversial and widely publicised trial, and finally imprisoned.
Based on original sources and extensively researched, this in-depth yet
accessible biography of D M Bennett offers a fascinating glimpse into
the turbulent period of late 19th-century America - the Gilded Age, a
time when our nation was controlled by pious politicians, powerful
manufacturers, and censorious clergymen.
DeRobigne Mortimer Bennett (1818-1882) was 19th-century America's most
controversial publisher and free-speech martyr. But Bennett's opposition to dogmatic religion and
puritanical obscenity laws so infuriated Anthony Comstock, the US Post
Office's 'special agent' and self-proclaimed 'weeder in God's garden',
that the freethinking publisher was eventually prosecuted, subjected to a
controversial and widely publicised trial, and finally imprisoned.
Based on original sources and extensively researched, this in-depth yet
accessible biography of D M Bennett offers a fascinating glimpse into
the turbulent period of late 19th-century America - the Gilded Age, a
time when our nation was controlled by pious politicians, powerful
manufacturers, and censorious clergymen.
