A Conspiracy So Immense

By David M. Oshinsky

Book Overview

Acclaimed historian David Oshinsky's chronicling of the life of Senator Joe McCarthy has been called both "nuanced" and "masterful." In this new paperback edition Oshinsky presents us with a work heralded as the finest account available of Joe McCarthy's colorful career. With a storyteller's eye for the dramatic and presentation of fact, and insightful interpretation of human complexity, Oshinsky uncovers the layers of myth to show the true McCarthy. His book reveals the senator from his humble beginnings as a hardworking Irish farmer's son in Wisconsin to his glory days as the architect of America's Cold War crusade against domestic subversion; a man whose advice if heeded, some believe, might have halted the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia and beyond. A Conspiracy So Immense reveals the internal and external forces that launched McCarthy on this political career, carried him to national prominence, and finally triggered his decline and fall. More than the life of an intensly- even pathologically- ambitious man however, this book is a fascinating portrait of America in the grip of Cold War fear, anger, suspician, and betrayal. Complete with a new Foreword, A Conspiracy So Immense will continue to keep in the spotlight this historical figure-a man who worked so hard to prosecute "criminals" whose ideals work against that of his- for America. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0029237602
• ISBN13: 9780029237601
• Release Date: March 1985
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 624 Pages
• Weight: 1.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.5" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

The natural

One thing needs to be cleared up right away: Joe McCarthy "never uncovered a Communist." Because McCarthyism was so devastating to rightwing anticommunism, giving a sour taste among decent people for half a century, there has been a deliberate (and often successful) attempt to rewrite history. In this version, McCarthy may have been crude and abrasive but he accomplished good work for the cause of freedom. As David Oshinsky...

Accurate Well Written Story of the Man and his Times.

A book of politics, and the craving for power that drives some people to do almost anything to get that power. The broad outlines of the story are well known. Joe McCarthy grandstanding in front of the microphones accusing all kinds of people of being communists. Never presenting any evidence he was able to ruin the lives of many Americans just to gain his own satisfaction. Now reviled, these times really need to be viewed...

Best book on the subject

Oshinsky lays out the McCarthy record in straight-forward, unbiased terms. Joe McCarthy was a deeply disturbed individual, who, having stumbled into a Senate Seat, went asking his friends for a good campaign "hook" to get reelected. They suggested communism. Over the next five years, McCarthy accused, literally, thousands of Americans of being Soviet agents. Not once did he produce evidence that any of those accused were,...

A Conspiracy So Immense...the World of Joe Mc Carthy

Shocking...bizarre...funny...sad! American politics at it's worst! Could hardly stop reading it until I was finished!

Excellent biography of America's most famous Red-hunter

Historian David Oshinsky, Professor of History at Rutgers University, does a masterful job in chronicling the life and times of one the most controversial political figures in our history. Oshinsky, an excellent story teller, allows the narrative to unfold in an unforced way, combining breazy prose with an excellent command of facts, thus allowing the drama of the McCarthy era to unwind naturally. Unlike most chroniclers...