Red Scare : blacklists, McCarthyism and the making of modern America / Clay Risen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Risen, Clay, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Politics and government--20th century.

United States.

Anti-communist movements--United States--History--20th century.

Anti-communist movements.

McCarthy, Joseph, 1908-1957.

McCarthy, Joseph.

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

Subversive activities--United States--History--20th century.

Subversive activities.

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

Communism.

Blacklisting of entertainers--United States--History--20th century.

Blacklisting of entertainers.

Internal security--United States--History--20th century.

Internal security.

United States. Congress.

Politics and government.

Genre:

History

Informational works.

Physical Description:

xiv, 460 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm

illustrations

Edition:

First Scribner hardcover edition.

Other Title:

Blacklists, McCarthyism and the making of modern America

Place of Publication:

New York : Scribner, 2025.

Summary:

"Red Scare tells the story of McCarthyism and the Red Scare--based in part on newly declassified sources--by an award-winning writer of history and New York Times reporter"-- Provided by publisher.

The film Oppenheimer has awakened interest in this vital period of American history. Now, for the first time in a generation, Red Scare presents a narrative history of the anti-Communist witch hunt that gripped America in the decade following World War II. The cultural phenomenon, most often referred to as McCarthyism, was an outgrowth of the conflict between social conservatives and New Deal progressives, coupled with the terrifying onset of the Cold War. This defining moment in American history, unlike any that preceded it, was marked by an unprecedented degree of political hysteria. Drawing upon newly declassified documents, journalist Clay Risen recounts how politicians like Joseph McCarthy, with the help of an extended network of other government officials and organizations, systematically ruined thousands of lives in their deluded pursuit of alleged Communist conspiracies. Beginning with the origins of the era after WWI through to its conclusion in 1957, Risen brings to life the politics, patriotism, opportunism, courage, and delirium of those years through the lives and experiences of a cast of towering historical figures, including President Eisenhower, Roy Cohn, Paul Robeson, Robert Oppenheimer, Helen Gahagan Douglas, Richard Nixon, and many more individuals known and unknown. Red Scare takes us beyond the familiar story of McCarthyism and the Hollywood blacklists to a fuller understanding of what the country went through at a time of moral questioning and perceived threat from the left, and what we were capable of doing to each other as a result. An urgent, accessible, and important history, Red Scare reveals an all-too-familiar pattern of illiberal conspiracy-mongering and political and cultural backlash that speaks directly to the antagonism and divisiveness of our contemporary moment.

Contents:

A Blue Envelope

Swimming-Pool Communists

We'll All Go to Jail

A Civil War on the Left

Un-American Activities

One of You Is Lying

Foley Square

Peekskill USA

A Clear and Present Danger

The Ballad of Harry Bridges

I Have in My Hand a List

A Government Within the Government

The China Lobby

The Russians Are Coming!

The Pink Lady

Running with the Hounds

Naming Names

The China Hands

Terror by Index Cards

Positive Loyalty

How Red Are the Schools?

A Race for Death

A Dry Crucifixion

The Tonangeber

Who Promoted Peress?

McCarthywasm

Red Monday

The Coal-Seam Fire.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 383-440) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Anonymous gift.

Other Format:

Online version: Risen, Clay Red Scare

ISBN:

9781982141806

1982141808

9781982141813

1982141816

OCLC:

1438665156

Publisher Number:

40032699543