Synopses & Reviews
Books on Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss abound, as countless scholars have labored to uncover the facts behind Chamberss 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.
Review
"Fascinating, accessible, and persuasive, Susan Jacoby makes it clear why the Hiss case and the diverse responses to and uses of it matter. She will upset, if not outrage, people on both sides of the political spectrum." Harvey J. Kaye
Review
"Jacoby offers a sprightly and thoughtful overview of the Hiss case, and considers its impact on several generations of liberal and conservative intellectuals. Her nuanced conclusions may not win the approval of either pro- or anti-Hiss partisans, but should prove all the more useful to the general reader." Maurice Isserman
Review
"There is a lifetime of erudition about American society, the Soviet Union, and the way people bend their perceptions to fit their beliefs in this wise and careful look at an episode that for decades inspired heated diatribes. Jacoby points out that those of us who don't believe in Hiss's innocence should still care about the issues of civil liberties that the case raised and which are still highly relevant today." Adam Hochschild
Review
"[The] book is most memorable for the passion with which Jacoby trumpets certain sensible but often overlooked truths."—David Greenberg,
The Washington PostAbout the Author
A conversation with Susan Jacoby
Q: Why did you title your book Alger Hiss and the Battle for History?
A: What Alger Hiss actually did sixty years agoand I do believe he was guilty of both the stated charge of perjury and the unstated charge of espionageis less important than the fact that his case has come to stand for very different views about American history. For the political right, the Hiss case remains a symbol of the alleged weakness and naïveté of the left about foreign and domestic threats. To the left, the willingness of the right to discard constitutional safeguards in times of threatboth perceived and realis symbolized by the rush to judgment about Hiss even when the evidence against him was much less convincing than it is now.
Q: Is it possible to believe that Hiss was guilty and oppose the methods of what has come to be known as the McCarthy era?
A: Of course. The fact that Hiss turned out to be guilty does not justify the violations of constitutional rights by the House Committee on Un-American Activities or by Sen. Joseph McCarthys subcommittee. There are many political liberals who once believed that Hiss was framed but have now concluded that he was guilty. But they also deplore the violations of civil liberties of the McCarthy era in the same way that they deplore violations of the Constitution in the war on terror today. The right, however, says, Wrong about Hiss, wrong about everything.”
Q: What role have the media played in this dispute?
A: A good deal of my book is devoted to analyzing the ways in which the media have helped keep the Hiss case alive for sixty years. I look at both left- and right-wing publications, but much of my attention is focused on middle-of-the-road magazines and newspapers. The mainstream press, at any given time, reflects received opinion, and Im particularly interested in the way received opinion about Hiss changed over time.
Q: Why should anyone care about the Hiss case today?
A: We should care because many of the issues surrounding the Hiss case, and the entire postwar hunt for Communists, are extremely relevant to the current battle over the appropriate balance between national security and civil liberties.
Susan Jacoby on PowellsBooks.Blog
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