Synopses & Reviews
The McCarthy era was a bad time for freedom in America. Encompassing far more than the brief career of Senator Joseph McCarthy, it was the most widespread episode of political repression in the history of the United States. In the name of National Security, most Americans--liberal and conservative alike--supported the anti-Communist crusade that ruined so many careers, marriages, and even lives. Now Ellen Schrecker gives us the first complete post-Cold War account of McCarthyism. Many Are the Crimes is a frightening history of an era that still resonates with us today.
Review
If the national memory is ever to reach closure on this tragic episode, Schrecker's analysis is a significant and compelling contribution. -- William J. Preston, Jr., Los Angeles Times [Schrecker's] thoughtful and earnest new study, Many Are the Crimes, offers the most comprehensive view yet of the process that turned a legal, political, economic, and cultural crusade into `the home front of the Cold War.' -- Henry Mayer, San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle A valuable contribution for anyone who would understand the dynamics of the domestic cold war. [Schrecker] has provided an alternative framework that does much to put McCarthyism in America in perspective. -- Victor Navasky, The Nation Nothing could be more welcome to students and scholars of United States history than the appearance in paperback of Ellen Schrecker's history of the anti-Communist mania which disgraced America in the 1940's and 50's. . . .Schrecker's book is distinguished from its forerunners by its comprehensive scholarship (soundly based in archival research), lucid exposition and calm intelligence. -- Hugh Brogan, Time Literary Supplement The book's great value is that it brings together recent work on McCarthyism and wonderfully illuminates the relationships between the component parts of that protean culture, and its own extensive original research enhances its authority. It is a true work of scholarship. The depth of Ellen Schreckert's research, her careful analysis and her elegant prose command respect. -- M.J. Heale, American Studies
Review
"If the national memory is ever to reach closure on this tragic episode, Schrecker's analysis is a significant and compelling contribution."--William J. Preston, Jr., Los Angeles Times
Review
"[Schrecker's] thoughtful and earnest new study, Many Are the Crimes, offers the most comprehensive view yet of the process that turned a legal, political, economic, and cultural crusade into `the home front of the Cold War.'"--Henry Mayer, San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle
Review
"A valuable contribution for anyone who would understand the dynamics of the domestic cold war. [Schrecker] has provided an alternative framework that does much to put McCarthyism in America in perspective."--Victor Navasky, The Nation
Review
"Nothing could be more welcome to students and scholars of United States history than the appearance in paperback of Ellen Schrecker's history of the anti-Communist mania which disgraced America in the 1940's and 50's. . . .Schrecker's book is distinguished from its forerunners by its comprehensive scholarship (soundly based in archival research), lucid exposition and calm intelligence."--Hugh Brogan, Time Literary Supplement
Review
"The book's great value is that it brings together recent work on McCarthyism and wonderfully illuminates the relationships between the component parts of that protean culture, and its own extensive original research enhances its authority. It is a true work of scholarship. The depth of Ellen Schreckert's research, her careful analysis and her elegant prose command respect."--M.J. Heale, American Studies
Synopsis
"It's all here, carefully researched, well written, and with a detached view of both the pursuers and the pursued. Excellent."--John Kenneth Galbraith, Harvard University
Synopsis
The McCarthy era was a bad time for freedom in America. Encompassing far more than the brief career of Senator Joseph McCarthy, it was the most widespread episode of political repression in the history of the United States. In the name of National Security, most Americans--liberal and conservative alike--supported the anti-Communist crusade that ruined so many careers, marriages, and even lives. Now Ellen Schrecker gives us the first complete post-Cold War account of McCarthyism. Many Are the Crimes is a frightening history of an era that still resonates with us today.
Synopsis
"It's all here, carefully researched, well written, and with a detached view of both the pursuers and the pursued. Excellent."--John Kenneth Galbraith, Harvard University
Table of Contents
Preface to the Paperback Edition ix
Introduction xi
PART ONE: ANTECEDENTS
Chapter 1: "We Were Sitting Ducks": The World of American Communism 3
Chapter 2: "Red-Baiters, Inc.": The Development of an Anticommunist Network 42
Chapter 3: "In the Interest of National Security": Anticommunism and the Roosevelt Administration 86
PART TWO: REPRESENTATIONS
Chapter 4: "They Are Everywhere": The Communist Image 119
Chapter 5: "A Great and Total Danger": The Nature of the Communist Threat 154
PART THREE: INSTRUMENTS
Chapter 6: "A Job for Professionals": The FBI and Anticommunism 203
Chapter 7: "In the Gutter": The Anticommunism of Joe McCarthy 240
Chapter 8: "A Badge of Infamy": Anticommunist Economic Sanctions and Political Dismissals 266
PART FOUR: INTERCONNECTIONS
Chapter 9: "How Red Is a Valley": Clinton Jencks and His Union 309
Chapter 10: "A Good Deal of Trauma": The Impact of McCarthyism 359
Acknowledgments 417
Abbreviations 419
Sources 421
Notes 431
Index 551