Red Scared!: The Commie Menace in Propaganda and Popular Culture [Paperback]

Steven Heller (Author), Michael Barson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

Not long ago, Communists seemed to be everywhere: among our politicians, neighbors, favorite actors--even in our drinking water. Red Scared! is a wry tour of the frosty decades of Soviet and American adversity, when anti-Communist hysteria produced fairly hysterical pop-culture items. The voluminous propaganda that the United States produced to combat the Red Menace--not only officially, but in books, films, magazines, games, and more--is explored and vibrantly reproduced here. With a colorful text that serves as a useful historical overview, daring tales from government agents, plot synopses and lurid covers of unintentionally funny pulp novels, and much more, Red Scared! brings the Cold War back home again--this time around with humor (and relief)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In detailing the United States' obsession with the Red Menace, Barson and Heller deliver an enticing visual treat of movie poster art, images from comic books and bubble-gum cards (featuring pictures of Mao and Stalin to collect and trade), as well as graphics from political pamphlets, national news magazines, pulp paperbacks and "serious" nonfiction (like J. Edgar Hoover's Masters of Deceit). While the introductions to the book's eight sections and the explanatory text are necessarily brief, the writing is lucid, engaging and historically accurate; additional historical material appears in detailed time lines. But the collection's raison d'ˆtre lies in the myriad iconographic examples of how popular culture was used as a national propaganda tool, while simultaneously reflecting mainstream political and social trends. Ranging from the humorous (a J. Edgar Hoover comic book) to the frightening (a copy of Red Channels, the pamphlet that started the television blacklist) and the ironic (an article entitled "Women: Russia's Second Class Citizens"), these cultural artifacts are stark reminders of how political ideology is promoted and produced in everyday life. Coauthors of Teenage Confidential, Barson (who has a Ph.D. in American culture) and Heller (senior art director at the New York Times) have done a fine job wedding text and visuals to create an illuminating social history that carefully walks the line between conveying the historical and political importance of its subject and our urge to view it as kitsch.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

These two books cover, in very different ways, the Cold War and leftist political activity in post-World War II America. Following their earlier collaborations Teenage Confidential: An Illustrated History of the American Teen and Wedding Bell Blues: 100 Years of Our Greatest Romance with Marriage, Barson and Heller here offer a humorous but informative overview of American anti-Communist books, periodicals, comic books, board games, movies, television programs, and other sources of propaganda. The eight chapters proceed from 1848 to the present. A time line of an era's key events opens each chapter, followed by a longer discussion and a synopsis of various anti-Communist materials, which are strengthened by excellent illustrations. While not an academic discussion of the topic, this cultural history nicely hits all of the major themes, works, and authors. An excellent selection for all libraries. Radosh (coauthor, The Rosenberg File) presents a serious memoir of life among the American Left from the late 1950s through 2000. Born to radical New York Jewish parents, he moved in Socialist and Communist circles from primary school through college into the 1960s. During the 1970s, Radosh worked with Michael Harrington's Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee. However, while researching his book on the Rosenberg trial he began questioning his political views. His final break with the American Left was spurred by its unquestioning acceptance of the abuse of the Nicaragua Sandinistas. Mixed with Radosh's political conflicts are his personal conflicts. While this is a now familiar tale, it is well told. Recommended for all libraries. Stephen L. Hupp, Urbana Univ., Urbana, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; 1St Edition edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811828875
• ISBN-13: 978-0811828871
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,117,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic look at commie madness, February 24, 2004

By 

Manfred Zeichmann (Austria) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Scared!: The Commie Menace in Propaganda and Popular Culture (Paperback)

I bought RED SCARED! several months ago, but idiotically shelved it for a long time. Finally I read it and regreted to have waited for so long reading it, because this book is fun.
RED SCARED! THE COMMIE MENACE IN PROPAGANDA AND POPULAR CULTURE details in an amusing way the troubled USA/USSR relation and the impact the cold war and the communist hysteria had on popular culture.
Beginning with the first red scare in the US in 1919, when a series of bomb explosions led to the deportation of 250 alien radicals, RED SCARED! explores the relation between Soviet Russia and the United States, from the alliance in the second world war to the cold war with its various conflicts. The focus however is on the influence of politics on popular culture and how changes in the political climate were reflected in mass media. Lavishly illustrated, never academic, written in a witty style, RED SCARED! entertains as well as educates.
Movies, TV-shows, novels, comics, pamphlets - all mass media felt the impact of the cold war. You surely know the charming film NINOTCHKA starring Greta GARBO or Stanley KUBRICK's Dr. STRANGELOVE but have you also heard about I MARRIED A COMMUNIST, INVASION USA, THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN or I WAS A COMMUNIST FOR THE FBI? Or did you know that John WAYNE once played an HUAC investigator, examining red un-American activities on the beautiful island of Hawaii (BIG JIM MCCLAIN, USA 1952)? All the above mentioned films and many more are presented with hugely interesting rare stills, lobby cards and posters. Capsule reviews are provided as well. The authors also discuss the successful TV series I LED THREE LIVES. Debuting in 1953 this 117 episode series about an undercover agent infiltrating a communist cell ran until 1956.
Impressive illustrations feature comics (my favorite being a horror comic titled THE RUSSIAN DEVIL, where a demonic looking kommissar digs a corpse up from a frozen grave, while the balloon above the evil red reads: "Get up, Ivan! You can't escape us by dying! We're not thru with you yet!") and lurid pulp paperback novels (RED RAPE). There's also an excerpt from a trashy Mickey SPILLANE mystery, where private eye Mike HAMMER battles the reds. There were even romance comics concerning the cold war ("THE ROMANTIC CURTAIN")!!! Other chapters revolve around red-baiter and FBI boss J. Edgar HOOVER, the sputnik shock, mind-boggling quotes from political pamphlets and anti-Communist bubble-gum cards (!)

RED SCARED! is an hugely entertaining time capsule ride. However it is not without flaws: Author Michael BARSON wrote a similar book in 1992 (BETTER DEAD THAN RED! A NOSTALGIC LOOK AT THE GOLDEN YEARS OF RUSSIAPHOBIA, RED-BAITING, AND OTHER COMMIE MADNESS) and he uses some of the material again. Several of the illustrations and stories looked quite familiar to me.
I also found it disappointing that several topics are only briefly touched upon or barely mentioned. For instance I would have liked to read more about the HUAC investigations of Hollywood.
Nonetheless is RED SCARED! essential reading for history buffs and people with interest in popular culture.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Communist menace as seen through popular cultural icons, September 6, 2001

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Scared!: The Commie Menace in Propaganda and Popular Culture (Paperback)

Michael Barson and Steven Heller's Red Scared! covers the Communist menace as seen through popular cultural icons and the media. The collections of posters, advertisements, and media presentations in color throughout provide a powerful visual survey of the ways in which Communism was presented to the public eye. A highly recommended pick.

4.0 out of 5 stars BEWARE, YOU FIFTH COLUMN PINKOS!, March 4, 2005

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popular culture lover (Travelers Rest, SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Scared!: The Commie Menace in Propaganda and Popular Culture (Paperback)

This is a highly entertaining little book. Our feelings about Russia and China have changed so much that seeing this overheated, red-baiting material is a shock. But it was a daily reality at mid-century. This book is copiously illustrated with photos, newspaper clippings, book covers and even "If the Devil Would Talk," the virulently anti-Communist comic book published by the Catholic Church in the 1950's. You won't go wrong with this one.