"Destined to become one of the most talked about books of 2004. A clear, concise and courageous book about the erosion of one of our bedrock freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and the dangers of unconstitutional government power intruding into the homes and private lives of individual citizens."Dan Rather

"At a time when so much liberty is being denied in the name of security, Sam Dash reminds us of the history of our Fourth Amendment and its importance to liberty. This book should be read by John Ashcroft and by every citizen whose liberty he endangers."Alan Dershowitz, author of The Case for Israel

"A dramatic account of how, over the centuries, we won protection against spying and intrusion by government agentsand now have lost most of those protections."Anthony Lewis, former columnist, the New York Times

As chief counsel of the U.S. Senate Watergate Committee, Sam Dash challenged the Nixon administrations abuse of presidential power in the 1970s. Now he turns his discerning legal mind to the Bush administrations increasing intrusion on the privacy rights of American citizens.

What is the best way to balance the competing interests of national security and individual liberty in our post-9/11 world? To answer that question, Dash examines the factors that led to the Fourth Amendments protection of the people against unreasonable searches and seizures. Covering almost eight hundred years of history, he begins with King John of England and the Magna Carta, then moves to early America as colonists resisted searches mandated under King George III. These tensions eventually contributed to the birth of the United States and the adoption of the Bill of Rights with its essential Fourth Amendment.

The story of the next two centuries is how effective that protection has been as the U.S. developed "from sea to shining sea." Dash explores the struggle for privacy rights by relating dramatic legal battles throughout our history, including landmark Supreme Court cases. He reveals the sometimes humorous experiences of the people involved, such as the unlucky gambler with a shoplifting wife and the police lieutenant turned king of the bootleggers. It becomes clear that to some extent, judicial safeguarding of Fourth Amendment protections depended on which justices made up the majority of the Court at any given time.

By 2001, a conservative majority of the Court had given law enforcement agents greater search and seizure authority than ever before. Dash challenges the legal justification of the Bush Administrations grab for extensive search, seizure, and wiretap powers after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He reminds us of government abuses in prior emergencies in American history, and concludes that the best security is dedication to our belief in individual liberty and the enforcement of our Bill of Rights.

The Intruders should be read by every American concerned about the increasing encroachment of government on one of the principal values that defines who we are, our hard-won right to individual privacy and freedom.

Samuel Dash, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, is a leading lawyer and scholar in constitutional criminal justice and professional responsibility. He is best known for his work as chief counsel of the U.S. Senate Watergate Committee, which led to the resignation of Richard Nixon. He lives in Washington, D.C.