The history of privacy is much more than a matter for the courts: it is, as Amy Gajda shows, an unsettling, emotionally wrought factor in American life that never goes away. These days, when news organizations can, under the First Amendment, pursue rumors and squeeze personal information from public figures, freedom of the press and personal dignity clash. With an abundance of sharply drawn examples, Gajda shines a needed spotlight on an uneasy...