Customer Reviews

Chasing Spies: How the FBI Failed in Counter-Intelligence But Promoted the Politics of McCarthyism in the Cold War Years

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I used this book for an undergraduate course on U.S. intelligence history at a very selective college and it was universally well-received.

The book presents a comprehensive treatment and assessment of FBI counter-intelligence dating back to the 1930's. This is a shadowy subject since the crime-fighting "celebrity" cases of the 30's (See: Bryan Burroughs' _Public Enemies) have always drowned-out the birth and growth of the FBI's formidible intelligence/counterintelligence capabilities. An aspect that has been forgotten in all this, to my mind, is that there is a reason the FBI has been deemed the "lead agency" in the current "War on Terror" - this book tracks that history.

It is a tragic history that engages Soviet Espionange, the Smith Act cases, and their politicization in the McCarthy era. The book also addresses the revelations of the 1996 Venona Transcripts and pays attention to the latest contentions in a fluid and changing historiography. Oh, and it keeps you wanting to turn the page.

CRG
Worcester, MA

Athan Theoharis' Chasing Spies tells how the FBI failed in counterintelligence but succeeded in promoting McCarthyism during the Cold War. Chapters focus on the failure of the organization to apprehend and convict Soviet agents, their rejection of information which could have been used against suspected spies, and the efforts of the agency and Hoover to use the information for personal gain.