The Secret World of American Communism (Annals of Communism Series) [Hardcover]

Harvey Klehr (Author), John Earl Haynes (Author), Fridrikh Igorevich Firsov (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300061838 | ISBN-13: 978-0300061833 | Publication Date: March 20, 1995

By interweaving narrative and documents, the authors of this book present a picture of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), one of the most controversial organizations in American public life. Heated debates about whether the Communist Party harboured spies or engaged in espionage have surrounded the party from its inception. This book provides proof that the CPUSA was involved in various subversive activities. At the same time, it discloses details about the workings of the party and about the ordinary Americans and CPUSA leaders who participated in its clandestine activities. The documents presented range from letters by Americans wishing to do international covert work for the Soviet Union, to top secret memos between the head of Soviet foreign intelligence, the Comintern and the CPUSA. They confirm that: the Soviet Union heavily subsidised the CPUSA and that some prominent Americans laundered money for the Comintern; the CPUSA maintained a covert espionage apparatus in the United States with direct ties to Soviet intelligence; the testimony of former Communists concerning underground Communist activity in the United States can be substantiated; American Communists working in government agencies stole documents and passed them to the CPUSA, which sent them on to Moscow; and the CPUSA played a role in atomic espionage. A narrative places the documents in their historical context and explains key figures, organizations and events. Together the narrative and documents provide a picture of American communism and convey the contradictory passions that drew so many Americans into the Communist movement and eventually tore that movement apart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Drawing on recently declassified documents from the former Soviet Union, this book argues that the American Communist Party was involved in espionage and conspiracy.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 348 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (March 20, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300061838
• ISBN-13: 978-0300061833
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,161,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book! A real eye-opener., October 15, 1999

By 

James Crabtree ([e-mail]) (El Paso, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret World of American Communism (Annals of Communism Series) (Hardcover)

This book should result in the rewriting of some aspects of our history. The idea that American Communists were just trying to create Socialism in America with "guidance" from their fraternal brothers and sisters in Russia is a blatent lie: as the authors show, the CPUSA was a puppet for the Soviets, doing their bidding. Particularly disturbing was the aspect of Americans attending military courses while in Moscow and wearing Red Army uniforms. A dark chapter in American history unveiled.

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Demonstrates deep Soviet involvement in American Communism, January 10, 2004

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Secret World of American Communism (Annals of Communism Series) (Paperback)

This is another terrific volume in that valuable and terrific series - "The Annals of Communism". The 92 documents provided in this book demonstrate clearly the way that American communism was used by the Soviet Union as a base of intelligence gathering. This is not to say that every American communist was disloyal, but that the funding and organization was provided from Moscow for purposes far from merely ideological.

There is also a very good discussion of the Soviet involvement in the American and Canadian brigades that went to the Spanish Civil War (there is another great volume in this series specifically on this, by the way). And more background on Elizabeth Bently, the Perlo Group and the early funding of early American communists such as John Reed (who received more than a million dollars).

There is only a bit here on Venona, Hiss, Greenglass, and the Rosenbergs, however. Although what is here is mostly summary material. There are other volumes you can turn to for more comprehensive and concrete discussions of these topics. This book does state their guilt with the view that Ethel Rosenberg was used as a wedge against Julius and called the government's bluff.

It is a very fine volume that I am glad to have in my library. There are two appendices: the first on the archival record and the second on the organization of the American Communist Party. There is also a list of selected readings and an index.

41 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brief introduction to documentary evidence, September 22, 2003

By 

D. Mohr "mohrd3" (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret World of American Communism (Annals of Communism Series) (Hardcover)

As the authors make clear in the introduction, this book presents only a handful of thousands of documents regarding American communism which they found in ex-Soviet archives.

The authors note that most scholorship of the fifties, sixties and seventies painted a fairly accurate picture of American communism. According to this picture, well documented here, the Soviet Union used the American communist parties as tools for Soviet foriegn policy. To that end, the Soviet Union funded the parties, controlled their public policy, directed undergound and subversive activities, and used the parties to recruit and control spies.

Much of the prose is rather dry. The authors present primary document after primary document, with limited commentary interspersed between them.

While some people may not like the picture this book paints of what Lenin called "useful fools" (Westerners who naively advanced the Soviet's imperialistic ambitions) they can not deny the evidence.

Finally, the brevity of this account makes it a good primer on the secretive nature of an organization dedicated to an ideology bent on undermining individual freedom. However, it should not serve as the sole source of information on the subject.