Alger Hiss and the battle for history / Susan Jacoby.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jacoby, Susan, 1945-

Series:

Icons of America.

Icons of America

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hiss, Alger.

United States. Department of State--Officials and employees--Biography.

United States.

United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities.

Communism--United States--History--20th century.

Communism.

Espionage, Soviet--United States--History--20th century.

Espionage, Soviet.

Cold War.

Political culture--United States.

Political culture.

Right and left (Political science).

United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

United States--Politics and government--1989-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (272 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven [Conn.] : Yale University Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Books on Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss abound, as countless scholars have labored to uncover the facts behind Chambers's shocking accusation before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in the summer of 1948-that Alger Hiss, a former rising star in the State Department, had been a Communist and engaged in espionage.In this highly original work, Susan Jacoby turns her attention to the Hiss case, including his trial and imprisonment for perjury, as a mirror of shifting American political views and passions. Unfettered by political ax-grinding, the author examines conflicting responses, from scholars and the media on both the left and the right, and the ways in which they have changed from 1948 to our present post-Cold War era. With a brisk, engaging style, Jacoby positions the case in the politics of the post-World War II era and then explores the ways in which generations of liberals and conservatives have put Chambers and Hiss to their own ideological uses. An iconic event of the McCarthy era, the case of Alger Hiss fascinates political intellectuals not only because of its historical significance but because of its timeless relevance to equally fierce debates today about the difficult balance between national security and respect for civil liberties.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

One. Passions as Prologue

Two. The Eye of the Hurricane, 1948-1950

Tree. Competing Narratives and Public Amnesia, 1950-1965

Four. The Best of Times, The Worst of Times, 1970-1980

Five. The Rise of the Right and the Cold War at Twilight, 1980-1992

Six. The Enemy Vanishes, 1992-2008

Conclusion. Passions as Epilogue

Chronology

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-242) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-50143-7

9786612501432

0-300-15584-0

1-4416-4560-8

OCLC:

613205910