As an American living in the early 1950s, you might have found yourself forced to answer the question: "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist party?" You might have heard accusations that your own government was "soft on Communism." Congress had determined that your children must include the phrase "under God" when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The Cincinnati Reds had changed their name, briefly, to "Redlegs" to avoid confusion with any other "Reds." In Indiana, some citizens considered removing copies of The Adventures of Robin Hood from libraries because the story's subversive message encouraged robbing from the rich to give to the poor. These developments grew out of the broad anxiety over communism which characterized the McCarthy era.

Recent years have witnessed a flood of books on various aspects of "McCarthyism," but generally these works have slighted the complete story of the origins and development of this broad phenomenon in favor of the particular. Now comes Richard M. Fried's lively Nightmare in Red to offer the first well-balanced, complete account of the entire era. The book uncovers the origins of extremist anti-communism in the troubled 1930s and traces it beyond the censure of Senator McCarthy to its lingering demise in the late 50s and 60s.

Fried presents an engaging narrative about the many different people who became involved in the drama of the anti-communist fervor, passing chronologically from the New Deal era and World War II, to the early years of the Cold War, through the peak of the McCarthy era, and beyond that to the decline of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1960s. Along the way, we meet the familiar figures of the era--Wisconsin Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower, and the young Richard Nixon. But more importantly, Fried also shows us how thousands of ordinary people--from teachers and lawyers to college students, factory workers, and janitors--were affected by McCarthyism. Along with the famous cases such as the Hollywood Ten (which led to the entertainment world's notorious blacklist) and the Alger Hiss case, Fried recounts a wealth of little-known but telling episodes involving victims and victimizers of anti-communist politics at the state and local levels.

Providing the most rounded history of the rise and fall of the phenomenon we call McCarthyism, Nightmare in Red extends back into the 1930s and forward past McCarthy's censure, revealing the roots of McCarthyism as well as traces of it that remain today. This wide-ranging study provides a highly original account of the impact of anti-communism in mid-century American politics and culture.

According to newspaper headlines and television pundits, the cold war ended many months ago; the age of Big Two confrontation is over. But forty years ago, Americans were experiencing the beginnings of another era--of the fevered anti-communism that came to be known as McCarthyism. During this period, the Cincinnati Reds felt compelled to rename themselves briefly the "Redlegs" to avoid confusion with the other reds, and one citizen in Indiana campaigned to have The Adventures of Robin Hood removed from library shelves because the story's subversive message encouraged robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. These developments grew out of a far-reaching anxiety over communism that characterized the McCarthy Era.

Richard Fried's Nightmare in Red offers a riveting and comprehensive account of this crucial time. He traces the second Red Scare's antecedents back to the 1930s, and presents an engaging narrative about the many different people who became involved in the drama of the anti-communist fervor, from the New Deal era and World War II, through the early years of the cold war, to the peak of McCarthyism, and beyond McCarthy's censure to the decline of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1960s. Along the way, we meet the familiar figures of the period--Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower, the young Richard Nixon, and, of course, the Wisconsin Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. But more importantly, Fried reveals the wholesale effect of McCarthyism on the lives of thousands of ordinary people, from teachers and lawyers to college students, factory workers, and janitors. Together with coverage of such famous incidents as the ordeal of the Hollywood Ten (which led to the entertainment world's notorious blacklist) and the Alger Hiss case, Fried also portrays a wealth of little-known but telling episodes involving victims and victimizers of anti-communist politics at the state and local levels.

Providing the most complete history of the rise and fall of the phenomenon known as McCarthyism, Nightmare in Red shows that it involved far more than just Joe McCarthy.

Providing the most complete history of the rise and fall of the phe-nomenon known as McCarthyism, Nightmare in Red offers a riveting and comprehensive account of the many different people who became embroiled in the anti-communist fervor of mid-century America. It traces the second Red Scare's antecedents from the 1930s, to the early years of the Cold War, through the peak of the McCarthy era, and beyond McCarthy's censure to the decline of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1960s.

Richard M. Fried teaches history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is author of Men Against McCarthy.