The long-running, annually published title Attacks on the Press analyzes press conditions and documents new dangers in more than 100 countries worldwide. Possessing the entire library since 2001—the year that changed my life, even as others close to me lost theirs— keeps me aware of what can happen abroad, at work and certainly at home. Even for journalists who live in the free world’s urban centers, eternal vigilance against hired thugs and elected officials remains paramount.

In the Americas, national leaders are building elaborate state media operations to dominate the news and amplify their personal agendas. In European and African nations, authorities are invoking national security laws and deploying intelligence services to intimidate the press. Such measures are particularly prominent in the United States, and perhaps nowhere in the country are such measures daily attempted in Los Angeles and NYC.

To be sure, Attacks on the Press is the world’s most comprehensive guide to international press freedom.

($30 from Brookings Institute: http://www.brookings.edu)