Alger Hiss's Looking-Glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy

by G. White and G. Edward White

Book Overview

For decades, a great number of Americans saw Alger Hiss as an innocent victim of McCarthyism--a distinguished diplomat railroaded by an ambitious Richard Nixon. And even as the case against Hiss grew over time, his dignified demeanor helped create an aura of innocence that outshone the facts in many minds.
Now G. Edward White deftly draws together the countless details of Hiss's life--from his upper middle-class childhood in Baltimore and his...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195153456
• ISBN13: 9780195153453
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 9.6" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Impeccable, Intellectually Honest Scholarship

This book is the definitive account of who Alger Hiss was, what he did during his life and why he did it. The scholar does not take a political position, he simply parses, analyzes, presents, and decodes the evidence. Impeccable scholarship that leaves one with the deep impression that we have finally gotten to the truth of the whole matter. In any event, this book is the BEST one that has been written on Alger Hiss and his life. CONVINCING, OBJECTIVE, INTELLECTUALLY HONEST scholarship.

Excellent Book

This was an excellent review of the material and good psych profile of Alger. Obviously, partisans of the left will disagree but history has answered the question of his guilt.

An Excellent Historical Work

This is one the best books ever written about the treason case of Alger Hiss. It is also the one that does the best job of explaining just what Hiss's motives were. According to White, Hiss had an incredible knack for manipulating people and took huge risks and literally thrived on living on the edge. In other words, Hiss's espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union was motivated as much by the thrilling experience of being a spy as much as any ideological sympathies that he may have had for Communism.This book is recommened reading for everyone with an interest in recent American history.

A fresh new account

There is one undeniable truth regarding Alger Hiss. He was a communist and a soviet spy. Although he very well may have morphed and changed, he did in fact serve the Russian government for a time, and these records have clearly come to light following the opening of KGB archives in the 1990s. This book is a look at the Hiss case, the ultimate `trial of the century' which pitted the anti-communist crusaders like Nixon, Chambers and Mcarthy, against the eastern establishment's pretty boy Alger Hiss and his leftist allies. The case, its details are all in dispute and so are all the semi-important `facts' regarding the defense and prosecution. This book tries to peel away the layers of propaganda that have pervaded the Hiss case over the years and instead shed light and the actual details of what happened. A heroic effort, this book will be enjoyed by many and will open the eyes of those that think Hiss was an unwitting victim of paranoia. Seth J. Frantzman