Alger Hiss, Whittaker Chambers, and the Schism in the American Soul

by Patrick Swan

In 1952, Random House published Whittaker Chambers's Witness. Not only did it immediately become a bestseller; it was recognized by many as one of the great spiritual autobiographies of the twentieth century. In Alger Hiss, Whittaker Chambers, and the Schism in the American Soul, editor Patrick Swan marks the fiftieth anniversary of Witness's publication by anthologizing 23 of the best essays ever written on Chambers, Hiss, or both. Essays by literary luminaries such as Leslie Fiedler, Arthur Koestler, Lionel Trilling, Rebecca West, Murray Kempton, and William F. Buckley Jr. tell the story of these two fascinating (and ultimately mysterious) men and of what they and their conflict represented. Sampling the entire spectrum of respectable thought on Hiss and Chambers, these pieces do not, as a rule, trouble themselves much with the facts of the case; Hiss's guilt was not so much in doubt then, and is certainly well documented by now. But the essayists' divergent opinions on the nature of communism (and anticommunism), liberalism, the proper relationship between religion and politics, and many other issues remain provocative -- perhaps even more so now than when they were written.

Genres: History, American History

359 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[Talmadge Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting idea for a book: Collect essays on one of the biggest scandals of the middle 20th Century, covering both sides of the controversy. The problem with this book is it would have been better at half the length. Some of the essays are overloaded with histrionics (the Hilton Kramer piece in particular), while others seem to have been added as filler (the Rebecca West essay). So many of the essays were by literary critics, and I don't think they handled this well.
On the other hand it is interesting to compare the scandal discussed in this book with the current controversies now surrounding Michael Flynn and others.

[Shannan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the last profound books I had the honor to read in my collegiate senior class. I had almost finished this amzing book which ripped open the whole red scare and allowed us to gawk into the fallacies of our justice department. However the day before our essay final, my puppy found this book savory and chewed up the last 50 pages of this book. Explaining this to my professor was hilarious because he was about to retire and he has never actually heard this excuse of the dog ate my book. We both had a great laugh, he allowed me to borrow his book as long as "Lou" didn't get his paws on it. I got an A on my final.