THE HAUNTED FIFTIES

by I. F. Stone ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 1963

It has been ten years since I. F. Stone last appeared in hard covers: a long time, indeed, and readers of this book are likely to agree both that it was much too long and well worth the wait. As a collection of contemporary articles on every conceivable political and moral aspect of the troubled times between Eisenhower's and Kennedy's first months in the White House, this volume is nothing short of astounding. What Stone saw so clearly and fought or advocated then, nearly everyone holds to be self-evident now: certainly the late Senator McCarthy was ""The most brazen operator to appear in the United States Senate since the days of Huey Long""; certainly the preoccupation with security and subversion amounted to a fetish and worse, in many cases---but who else was saying so, as steadily and vehemently, at the very time? Likewise, his views of the Cold War crises and occasional thaws, Berlin and Hungary, Khrushchev's visit, Quemoy and Matsu, the gradual shifting of Russian policies after Stalin's death, the sinister question mark of Mao's China, all these are scrutinized here with keenest eyes. This is contemporary history of the finest, most readable sort.

Pub Date: Nov. 4, 1963

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1963

Categories: NONFICTION