Synopses & Reviews
Official histories have determined our view of the past. Governments and those in power have tried to preserve and reveal only information that serves their interests. Until now.
The Secret Histories is a groundbreaking collection of the documents that have clarified history and altered the way we view politics and culture. From Edwin Black's investigation into the strategic alliance between IBM and the Nazi regime to I. F. Stone's classic study of the hidden history of the Korean War, from the 1952 Reader's Digest expose of tobacco's link to cancer and heart disease to Seymour Hersh's report on the My Lai massacre (as well his exposé on the abuse in Abu Ghraib prison), this is the perfect anthology for those seeking to revisit--or discover for the first time--the stories that have shaped our understanding of the world.
Edited by noted journalist and filmmaker John S. Friedman, as well as featuring an illuminating preface by bestselling author James Carroll (An American Requiem and Constantine's Sword), The Secret Histories is an invaluable resource guide and a genuine tool for further change. It is a must-have book for anyone yearning to expand their understanding of the past and the present. John S. Friedman is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. He produced the Academy Award-winning documentary Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie and directed the documentary Stealing the Fire, a history of the WMD underground from the Holocaust to the present. He is a regular contributor to The Nation, among other publications. Friedman holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature. The Secret Histories is a groundbreaking collection of the documents that have clarified history and altered the way we view politics and culture. From Edwin Black's investigation into the strategic alliance between IBM and the Nazi regime to I. F. Stone's classic study of the hidden history of the Korean War, from the 1952 Reader's Digest expose of tobacco's link to cancer and heart disease to Seymour Hersh's report on the My Lai massacre (as well his exposé on the abuse in Abu Ghraib prison), this is the perfect anthology for those seeking to revisitor discover for the first timethe stories that have shaped our understanding of the world.
Edited by noted journalist and filmmaker John S. Friedman, as well as featuring an illuminating preface by bestselling author James Carroll (An American Requiem and Constantine's Sword), The Secret Histories is an invaluable resource guide and a genuine tool for further change. It is a must-have book for anyone yearning to expand their understanding of the past and the present. "A richand dishearteningcollection of deception and exposure."The Washington Post
"Reads like a hymnal to the power of the exposé. Friedman, a Nation contributor and documentary filmmaker, has combed through some of the larger events of the post-WWII era and culled 26 stories, books, and congressional reports that together tell an unacknowledged version of the past 65 years . . . It's the perfect inspiration for . . . healthy skepticism . . . "Inspire[s] a necessary distrust of the news media . . . If you come away from [The Secret Histories] questioning everything you know, that's part of the pointdistrust flourishes when dark corners are illuminated."The Village Voice
"There's probably a reason why the history education of most elementary school students ends around World War II. What comes after that warwhich had easy-to-understand enemies and clear-cut wrongs and rightsis too messy to explain and often too new to bear the strong lens of historical reflection. Journalist and documentary filmmaker John S. Friedman underscores the messiness of the latter half of the 20th century in his anthology The Secret Histories. In this volume, he compiles documents that shed light on various historical events, from World War II to the present day. Friedman's mostly original source material includes transcripts from 'television documentaries, newspaper and magazine articles, selections from books, reports from Senate investigations, tape recordings, decoded cables and an article that first appeared on the Internet.' He has written short but authoritative introductions to each piece, attempting to give the reader the context for the events described. The Secret Histories is a treasure for the serious history buff, but there's plenty for the amateur historian or the concerned citizena reader Friedman takes special care to court since he sees darker currents running through these historical examples . . . Friedman has done a masterful job of collecting primary source material and making careful choices about what was included . . . After reading The Secret Histories, one hopes that Friedman's call for the uncovering of recent cover-ups will be heeded . . . Perhaps this volume will kick-start the process."The Capital Times "Chilling and immensely informative . . . The Secret Histories illuminates the darkest side of American politics . . . Masterfully compiled . . . Friedman's eye-opening anthology [is] a must-read in this bleak time."V.B. Price, Albuquerque Tribune "A concise anthology of documents that the government, or at least those in power, would have preferred to conceal from the public. Even for students who might read just a few of these documents, the book encourages what ought to be the first step in any activism: yearning to know . . . The book is a tool for students. All of the documents are made more clear by the historical context Friedman provides each of them."Columbia Spectator
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by James Carroll
Introduction by John S. Friedman
Part I
World War Two: Code Breakers and Collaborators
F.W. Winterbothams
The Ultra Secret
Edwin Blacks
IBM and the Holocaust
Part II
The Korean War
I.F. Stones
The Hidden History of the Korean War
Part III
Atomic Secrets
THE VERONA CABLES”
Eileen Welsomes
The Plutonium Experiment
Part IV
Cold War Secrets
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyns
The Gulag Archipelago
Edward R. Murrows
A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy”
John Markss
The Search for the Manchurian Candidate”
PartV
Organized Crime, J. Edgar Hoover, and FBI Abuses
THE KEFAUVER COMMITTEE REPORT”
Anthony Summerss
Official and Confidential
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., CASE STUDY”
COINTELPRO: THE FBIS COVERT ACTION PROGRAMS AGAINST AMERICAN CITIZENS”
Jon Wieners
Gimme Some Truth
PART VI
Hidden Sides of the Vietnam War
Morley Safers
Report on the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident”
Seymour M. Hershs
The Massacre at My Lai”
Neil Sheehans
Vietnamese Archive” from The Pentagon Papers”
PART VII
Cover Intervention, Over Neglect
James Risens
Secrets of History: The C.I.A. in Iran”
John Dingess
The Condor Years
Peter Kornbluhs
The Pinochet File
Philip Gourevitchs
The Genocide Fax”
PART VIII
Health and the Environment
Roy Norrs
Cancer by the Carton”
Greg Palasts
A Well-Designed Disaster”
PART IX
Abuses of Power
THE NIXON WHITE HOUSE TAPES”
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernsteins
Watergate”
Greg Palasts
Florida Ethnic Cleansing of the Voter Rolls”
Seymour M. Hershs
Torture at Abu Ghraib”
Permissions
Synopsis
Official histories have determined our view of the past. Governments and those in power have tried to preserve and reveal only information that serves their interests. Until now.
The Secret Histories is a groundbreaking collection of the documents that have clarified history and altered the way we view politics and culture. From Edwin Black's investigation into the strategic alliance between IBM and the Nazi regime to I. F. Stone's classic study of the hidden history of the Korean War, from the 1952 Reader's Digest expose of tobacco's link to cancer and heart disease to Seymour Hersh's report on the My Lai massacre (as well his exposé on the abuse in Abu Ghraib prison), this is the perfect anthology for those seeking to revisit--or discover for the first time--the stories that have shaped our understanding of the world.
Edited by noted journalist and filmmaker John S. Friedman, as well as featuring an illuminating preface by bestselling author James Carroll (An American Requiem and Constantine's Sword), The Secret Histories is an invaluable resource guide and a genuine tool for further change. It is a must-have book for anyone yearning to expand their understanding of the past and the present.
About the Author
John S. Friedman is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. He produced the Academy Award-winning documentary Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie, and directed the documentary Stealing the Fire, a history of the WMD-underground from the Holocaust to the present. He is a regular contributor to The Nation, among other publications. Friedman holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature.