High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Free Speech, "The People’s Darling Privilege": Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History is a non-fiction book about the history of freedom of speech in the United States. It was written by Michael Kent Curtis, and published in 2000 by Duke University Press. The book is structured in a chronological format, and discusses the evolution of free speech in the U.S. within the context of the actions of individuals and how they affected change. The author asserts that protests and actions by citizens helped to evolve the notions surrounding free speech in the U.S., prior to definitive statements on the matter from U.S. courts. Curtis writes that free speech rights were first developed in "the forum of public opinion", and argues, "he history of free speech shows the need for broadly protective free speech rules applied generally and equally".