On this Banned Books Week, almost 36 years after Beacon Press published the Pentagon Papers in defiance of all efforts by the government to suppress them, we're reminded of the critical and continued need for books deemed “dangerous.” To remember that a single publication once held the power to enrage the president, incur an FBI witchhunt, and briefly lift the oppressive hood of ignorance that those in the highest echelons of power seek to suffocate us with is a source of great hope, as well as an inspiration for all the current (and the forthcoming!) dangerous books out there.—Allison Trzop

Read about Beacon's role in the publication of the Pentagon Papers.

Allison Trzop is an assistant editor at Beacon Press. In June of 2007, she had the honor of meeting three dangerous men—Daniel Ellsberg, Robert West, and Senator Mike Gravel—as part of an anniversary panel on the Pentagon Papers, moderated by Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman. “Beacon Press and the Pentagon Papers”(pdf) was originally submitted as her master’s degree project in the Department of Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College.