SEEDS OF TREASON

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 1950

By two staff writers (Newweek and the World Telegram & Sun) this is the first of three or possibly more presentations of certainly the most curious, controversial and confusing case of our time- that of Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers. Here, for those who have not read- or those who were bewildered by the detail of the trial testimony as it ran in the newspapers, is an analysis and synchronization of the case from its inception to a conclusion which leaves no doubt or disbelief as to the guilt of Alger Hiss. Granted that the slant here is toward Chambers, no longer the rather disreputable, disheveled Communist but a man of good will and a man of conscience, and against Hiss, charming, capable, brilliant, the facts- as they gather momentum from the time of Elizabeth Bentley's accusation through the first and second trials are conclusive, and the tangibles of the pumpkin papers, the Woodstook typewriter, the Bokhara rug provide the finite evidence which Prisoilla Hiss, with her overt lies, Alger Hiss with his withdrawal into vagueness, cannot escape. The public interest in this case, the emotional sympathy engendered by Hiss, the ideological factors as well as the disturbing exposure of treason in high places, should carry over to the book and make it a sure seller.

Pub Date: April 3, 1950

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Funk & Wagnalls

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1950

Categories: NONFICTION