McCarthyism: The Realities, Delusions and Politics Behind the 1950s Red Scare

In this succinct text, Jonathan Michaels examines the rise of anti-communist sentiment in the postwar United States, exploring the factors that facilitated McCarthyism and assessing the long-term effects on US politics and culture. McCarthyism:The Realities, Delusions and Politics Behind the 1950s Red Scare offers an analysis of the ways in which fear of communism manifested in daily American life, giving readers a rich understanding of this era of postwar American history. Including primary documents and a companion website, Michaels’ text presents a fully integrated picture of McCarthyism and the cultural climate of the United States in the aftermath of the Second World War.
Reviews:
This lucid account of the red scare of the early 1950s could hardly be bettered. It rightly places that disturbing phenomenon into a much longer perspective, and it illustrates the whole sorry business with a fascinating range of documents conjuring reds on the campuses and gays in government.
- Michael Heale, Emeritus Professor of History at Lancaster University. UK
The great strength of this highly engaging study is its wide-ranging scope. Michaels traces the long trajectory of virulent anticommunism, detailing its genesis, development and outlook. He effectively analyses both the proponents of "un-Americanism"– a combination of vested business interests, opportunistic politicians and ultra-conservative institutions, organizations and networks – and the corrosive impact of red scare ideology: fear, silence and sharply narrowed boundaries of dissent. It is an important and timely book.
- Phillip Deery, author of Red Apple: Communism and McCarthyism in Cold War New York