Sedition

"Extremely impressive . . . . A wonderful read from a born storyteller." —Chris Cleave, New York Times bestselling author of Little Bee "A wicked sense of humor . . . . Subversive and thrilling . . . It will keep you up all night." —The New York Times Book Review "Like Jane Austen on crack cocaine . . . . A triumph of wit and brio." —The Scotsman An unforgettable historical tale of piano playing, passions, and female power The setting of Sedition by Katharine Grant: London, 1794. The problem: Four nouveau rich fathers with five marriageable daughters. The plan: The young women will learn to play the piano, give a concert for young Englishmen who have titles but no fortunes, and will marry very well indeed. The complications: The lascivious (and French) piano teacher; the piano maker's jealous (and musically gifted) daughter; the one of these marriageable daughters with a mating plan of her own. While it might be a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a title and no money must be in want of a fortune, what does a sexually awakened young woman want? In her wickedly alluring romp through the late-Georgian London, Italian piano making, and tightly-fitted Polonaise gowns, Katharine Grant has written a startling and provocative debut.

"Fast-paced, clever, and allegorical, this novel considers what makes people human after all. Sedition is powerful because of its social commentary, compelling setting, and unexpected heroine." - Camille-Yvette Welsch, FOREWORD REVIEWS hrShe was created for more than slavery; she was built for rebellion. In an alternate Victorian England, clockwork cyborgs provide the primary source of labor for the upper class. Known as biomatons, they are property by law and have been manipulated and mind-controlled into subservience. Taryn Roft, a 17-year-old girl, attending classes at Grafton's School of Mechanicks in London has a secret. What's even worse—she cannot remember anything before her twelfth birthday. When a mysterious privateer discovers her secret, he offers her an ultimatum: accompany him to his airship, or her secret will be revealed to everyone. For Taryn, it's not much of a choice. Facing prejudice and cruelty may be nothing new to the only girl at an all-boys' school, but the further from home she gets, the darker her situation becomes. With danger around every corner and holes in her mind, can Taryn uncover the truth and prevent her own destruction before she can sow the seeds of sedition? hr "It’s a story of horror, of nightmares brought to life. But it is also a story about love, hope and trust. A story about making horrible mistakes and having to live with them. It is a story about redemption but also, of course, of Sedition." – Hanna Palm, Goodreads & Bookstagrammer (librarianofterrasen) "Sedition is definitely a book for fans of introspective, deep characters who are enraged by the injustice of the world." – Cat Rector, author of The Goddess of Nothing at All "A good steampunk story ought to say something about society. Sedition does this."– Chris Patrick Carolan, author of The Nightshade Cabal "Sedition is one of the most creative and innovative books that I've read this year!...One highlight of this book is that the world-building is amazing, full of automatons and gas lamps. I felt like I was transported back in time to an alternative Victorian London, and I loved it." - Leighton, Layton’s Book Reviews hr

What happens to democracy when dissent is treated as treason? In May 1798, after Congress released the XYZ Affair dispatches to the public, a raucous crowd took to the streets of Philadelphia. Some gathered to pledge their support for the government of President John Adams, others to express their disdain for his policies. Violence, both physical and political, threatened the safety of the city and the Union itself. To combat the chaos and protect the nation from both external and internal threats, the Federalists swiftly enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Oppressive pieces of legislation aimed at separating so-called genuine patriots from objects of suspicion, these acts sought to restrict political speech, whether spoken or written, soberly planned or drunkenly off-the-cuff. Little more than twenty years after Americans declared independence and less than ten since they ratified both a new constitution and a bill of rights, the acts gravely limited some of the very rights those bold documents had promised to protect. In The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, Terri Diane Halperin discusses the passage of these laws and the furor over them, as well as the difficulties of enforcement. She describes in vivid detail the heated debates and tempestuous altercations that erupted between partisan opponents: one man pulled a gun on a supporter of the act in a churchyard; congressmen were threatened with arrest for expressing their opinions; and printers were viciously beaten for distributing suspect material. She also introduces readers to the fraught political divisions of the late 1790s, explores the effect of immigration on the new republic, and reveals the dangers of partisan excess throughout history. Touching on the major sedition trials while expanding the discussion beyond the usual focus on freedom of speech and the press to include the treatment of immigrants, Halperin’s book provides a window through which readers can explore the meaning of freedom of speech, immigration, citizenship, the public sphere, the Constitution, and the Union.

Examining the relationship between sedition and liberal democracies, particularly in India, this book looks at the biography of sedition laws, its contradictory position against free speech, and democratic ethics. Recent sedition cases registered in India show that the law in its wide and diverse deployment was used against agitators in a community-based pro-reservation movement, group of university students for their alleged ‘anti-national’ statements, anti-liquor activists, and anti-nuclear movement, to name a few. Set against its contemporary use, this book has used sedition as a lens to probe the fate of political speech in liberal democracy. The lived reality of the law of sedition in changing anthropological sites is juxtaposed with its positivist existence. Anushka Singh uses a comparative framework keeping in focus the Indian experience backed by fieldwork in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Delhi, and includes a comparative perspective from England, the USA, and Australia to contribute to debates on sedition within liberal democracies at large, especially in the wake of the proliferation of counter-terror legislations.

The prosecution of dissent under the Alien and Sedition Acts affected far more people than previously realized. It also provoked the first battle over the Bill of Rights. Wendell Bird provides the definitive account of a dark moment in U.S. history, reminding us that expressive freedom and opposition politics are essential to a stable democracy.

The liberal use of the sedition law in recent years, mainly by state governments intolerant of dissenting opinion, has provoked justified controversy. After some prominent individuals fell afoul of the law, activists, journalists, lawyers, and jurists took up cudgels on behalf of the victims, and demanded that the law be scrapped, as it belongs to the colonial era. The Supreme Court of India, in May 2022, admitted a host of petitions challenging the law as upheld in Kedar Nath Singh vs Union of India, 1961. The author believes that the fundamental right to free speech is a non-negotiable right in a democratic country, but the law is relevant for countering threats to national security and sovereignty. Examining the trajectory of the sedition law from its introduction by the British colonial power and its subsequent rejection by the Constituent Assembly of India, the author observes that the statute had to be hastily restored by the Provisional Parliament to cope with the challenges posed by communal rioting in many parts of the country, several years after independence. As such, it is pertinent in times of crisis. The current law undeniably needs safeguards against political misuse, but deserves a place on the statute. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)