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Witness (Cold War Classics) Paperback – December 8, 2014

4.7 out of 5 stars 909 ratings

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#1 New York Times bestseller for 13 consecutive weeks!

"As long as humanity speaks of virtue and dreams of freedom, the life and writings of Whittaker Chambers will ennoble and inspire." - PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN

"One of the dozen or so indispensable books of the century..." - GEORGE F. WILL

"Witness changed my worldview, my philosophical perceptions, and, without exaggeration, my life." - ROBERT D. NOVAK, from his Foreward

"Chambers has written one of the really significant American autobiographies. When some future Plutarch writes his American Live, he will find in Chambers penetrating and terrible insights into America in the early twentieth century." - ARTHUR SCHLESINGER JR.

"Chambers had a gift for language....to call Chambers an activist or Witness a political event is to say Dostoevsky was a criminologist or Crime and Punishment a morality tract." - WASHINGTON POST

"Chambers was not just the witness against Alger Hiss, but was also one of th articulators of the modern conservative philosophy, a philosophy that has something to do with restoring the spiritual values of politics." - SAM TANENHAUS, author of Whittaker Chambers

"One of the few indispensable autobiographies ever written by an American - and one of the best written, too." - HILTON KRAMER, The New Criterion

First published in 1952,
Witness is the true story of Soviet spies in America and the trial that captivated a nation. Part literary effort, part philosophical treatise, this intriguing autobiography recounts the famous Alger Hiss case and reveals much more. Chambers' worldview and his belief that "man without mysticism is a monster" went on to help make political conservatism a national force.

Regnery History's Cold War Classics edition is the most comprehensive version of
Witness ever published, featuring forewords collected from all previous editions, including discussions from luminaries William F. Buckley Jr., Robert D. Novak, Milton Hindus, and Alfred S. Regnery.
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jay Vivian Chambers (1901 –1961), known as Whittaker Chambers, was an American editor who denounced his Communist spying and became respected by the American Conservative movement during the 1950s.

After early years as a Communist Party member and Soviet spy, he defected from communism (underground and open party) and worked at Time magazine. Under subpoena in 1948, he testified in what became Alger Hiss's espionage trials and he became an outspoken anti-communist (all described in Witness). Afterwards, he worked briefly as a senior editor at National Review . President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Medal of Freedom posthumously in 198

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Regnery History
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 8, 2014
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 718 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 162157296X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1621572961
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.6 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.7 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 909 ratings

About the author

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Whittaker Chambers
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Whittaker Chambers (1901-1961) was a controversial literary and political figure of the 20th Century.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chambers grew up in Lynbrook, NY, and studied at Columbia University. In 1925, he became a communist, editing the _Daily Worker_ newspaper and _New Masses_ magazine. He joined the Soviet underground (1932), defected during the Great Purge (1938), and hid with his family for a year. He joined _TIME_ magazine, where he rose to become a senior editor (1939-1948). In August 1948 under subpoena before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), he named former Federal officials as part of a Washington-based network. By September 1948, only Alger Hiss continued to deny those allegations. During legal proceedings, Chambers brought forth evidence (e.g., the "Pumpkin Papers") that led to Hiss's indictment, trial, and conviction (1948-1950). After the Hiss Case, he joined the editorial board of nascent _National Review_ (1957-1959).

Chambers's memoir _Witness_ (1952) was a best-seller, serialized in the _Saturday Evening Post_ and _Readers Digest_ and read aloud by the author on NBC radio. His wife published further essays as _Cold Friday_ (1964). Others have published his writings and articles: _Odyssey of a Friend_ (1969), _Ghosts on the Roof_ (1989), and _Notes from the Underground_ (1997). To support himself while both communist and defector, the polyglot Chambers translated more than a dozen books from German and French (1928-1939), including _Bambi_ (1928).

President Ronald Reagan awarded Chambers the Medal of Freedom (1984) and added the Whittaker Chambers Farm to the National Register (1988).

More information (including video, audio, and articles) is online: http://www.whittakerchambers.org/

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
909 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be a compelling read that reads like a suspenseful spy thriller, with one customer noting it's the greatest piece of American literature. The writing is precise and well-crafted, and customers appreciate its honest and profound observations about life. They describe it as an engrossing autobiography that demonstrates human goodness, with one review highlighting the author's humanity towards former comrades. While customers find the book informative and relevant, they note it is a long and arduous read.

94 customers mention "Readability"91 positive3 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable to read and worth rereading, with one customer describing it as the greatest piece of American literature.

"...Meanwhile the handsome, urbane, well-dressed Alger Hiss indignantly proclaimed his innocence (sound familiar?)...." Read more

"...book does not read like a bestselling memoir, but rather as a great work of literature...." Read more

"...The conspiracy that Chambers details in “Witness” is stunning in its scope and audacious in its aims...." Read more

"...come to admire and greatly care about its author, a flawed but immensely talented and very brave man, who did what he felt he had to in resistance..." Read more

89 customers mention "Insight"89 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and relevant, describing it as a fascinating and enlightening read.

"...I strongly recommend this absolutely fascinating book for three reasons...." Read more

"...exposed on the witness stand, the relentless and skilled probing of Congressional investigators, dramatic personal confrontations, the discovery of..." Read more

"...elegant and the story is utterly captivating, a monumental piece of twentieth century non-fiction." Read more

"...The story still holds up & holds interest, but it would have helped a lot if he'd informed the reader a bit more about the specific *pragmatic*..." Read more

84 customers mention "Writing quality"68 positive16 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, describing it as well-reasoned and precise, with one customer noting it as an elegant time capsule.

"...It bears repeating that Chambers was a profoundly talented writer. He truly had a remarkable gift with the English language...." Read more

"...But Chambers's fluid, graceful sentences, and his gift for reconstruction of sensory and emotional states, are comparable to those of the brilliant..." Read more

"One one hand, Chambers is clearly a good writer -- and knowledge of what he went through is indispensable for understanding, in part, how our nation..." Read more

"...It is a wonderfully written autobiography from a man who always wanted to be on the right side of ethics and in middle age figured out that ethics..." Read more

50 customers mention "Story quality"47 positive3 negative

Customers find the book's story engaging and suspenseful, comparing it to a spy thriller.

"...Chambers gradually came to faith is told with power and depth, very movingly. The hand of God is clearly evident in many incidents of Chambers' life...." Read more

"...and skilled probing of Congressional investigators, dramatic personal confrontations, the discovery of critical evidence midway through the..." Read more

"...a short nor breezy read, but the prose is elegant and the story is utterly captivating, a monumental piece of twentieth century non-fiction." Read more

"...The story still holds up & holds interest, but it would have helped a lot if he'd informed the reader a bit more about the specific *pragmatic*..." Read more

47 customers mention "Autobiography"47 positive0 negative

Customers find this autobiography engaging and informative, with profound observations about life, and one customer describes it as a great read into human nature.

"...I strongly encourage everyone to read this classic autobiography, Witness. I promise: you will never see the world the same way again...." Read more

"...“Witness” has been called one of the best-written and most important autobiographies of the twentieth century – and I can see why...." Read more

"...Witness is an engrossing autobiography, a riveting spy thriller and a moving statement of religious and patriotic belief, rendered with a lyrical..." Read more

"This is one of the great American Autobiographies. I originally was seeking information about the Hiss trial for professional curiosity...." Read more

14 customers mention "Characterization"14 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the characterization in the book, describing it as a demonstration of human goodness, with one customer specifically noting the protagonist's humanity towards his former comrades.

"...greatly care about its author, a flawed but immensely talented and very brave man, who did what he felt he had to in resistance to totalitarian evil..." Read more

"...Whittaker Chambers is a serious man who lived by choice through serious events...." Read more

"...We get it. Communism bad . Great man, but claimed perfect honesty, but somehow no one called him in his temporary homosexuality, though ending as..." Read more

"...This is a great man who wrote a great book.Half the book is underlined by me and I highly recommend it.There is not a boring page in this journey." Read more

12 customers mention "Honesty"12 positive0 negative

Customers praise the book's honesty, describing it as profoundly true and honest, with one customer specifically noting its impact on the Alger Hiss case.

"...The book rang true, and the issues it explores about competing world views and the intensely tribal nature of national politics make it seem as..." Read more

"...i also learned nixon was actually a really fantastic, good hearted, patriotic human being, contrary to popular portrayal" Read more

"...Courage, conviction, and perserverence allowed this single man to stand up against huge forces of governmental, political, and media power...." Read more

"This book twice now and again am overwhelmed by its honesty and literary style...." Read more

9 customers mention "Length"0 positive9 negative

Customers find the book long and arduous to read.

"...Somewhat long at 800 pages, it is an important read, one that reminds us of the price so many people paid to keep the western world free as well as..." Read more

"Yes, Witness is a long and arduous read. It also will leave you disgusted and disheartened...." Read more

"This is an incredibly long book. Tedious reading for the most part. Lots of description and scene setting is involved...." Read more

"...The book is long, but it is a measure of my enjoyment in reading it that I made time, between work and a two year old, to read some of it every night..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2012
    If I had to rate this book on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 20.

    Have you ever wondered what kind of whacko would become a Communist? Especially a brilliant American citizen, blessed to live in freedom. What would make people consciously choose the path of advocating the violent overthrow of Western civilization?

    I strongly encourage everyone to read this classic autobiography, Witness. I promise: you will never see the world the same way again.

    Chambers was born in the early 1900s and raised in New York state, to highly irregular but intellectual parents. His childhood was wretched and he found the world a miserable place. While at a young and vulnerable age, he was exposed to some family friends who were ardent Communists. They portrayed themselves as patriots whose love for America convinced them that they must completely change the entire order of things because our entire society was unjust and "broken." (Sound familiar?)

    Chambers possessed a powerful intellect, which he directed at the study of Marxist and Communist philosophies. As he read more and more, he came to believe that only a complete destruction of America could "free her" to embrace the radical new order of things that a Communist revolution would bring.

    He joined the Communist underground and did active espionage work for several years. He spied on and reported on various members of the U.S. government, reporting to contacts who served the Soviet Union. His closest colleague - and personal friend - was Alger Hiss, who was a highly placed government official.

    Eventually he became utterly disillusioned with Communism and, in fact, realized that it is inherently evil. He broke with the communist party and fled into hiding with his wife and child. After years of spiritual searching, he became a devout Christian. A phenomenally gifted writer, he landed a job with TIME magazine and rose quickly to become one of their 7 senior editors. He regularly used this position to try and warn America about the dangers of leftist views and the Soviet Union.

    As most people know, in 1948 he was called before a committee of Congress which was investigating Communist activity in America. When asked, Chambers denounced his former friend and fellow Communist spy, Alger Hiss. (There was a young member of Congress who assisted in the hearings, and thereby rose to prominence, named Richard Nixon. )

    Meanwhile the handsome, urbane, well-dressed Alger Hiss indignantly proclaimed his innocence (sound familiar?). Under oath, Hiss adamantly denied being a Communist. Then, Hiss and his minions went to work on Chambers: smearing his reputation, insulting Chambers' motives, and digging up dirt on his personal life and past. (Joe the Plumber, anyone?)

    Eventually Whittaker Chambers produced incontrovertible evidence of Hiss' involvement in spying on the United States, on behalf of the Soviet Union. Hiss was convicted of perjury and went to prison, still insisting on his innocence. Alger Hiss' famous last words at trial were: "Until the day I die, I shall always wonder how Whittaker Chambers broke into my house and wrote that memo on my typewriter." Even today, leftists will vigorously defend Hiss' innocence and say that he was wrongly convicted in a right-wing frame-up.

    In the 1990s the former Soviet Union released its secret files on Alger Hiss which proved that he was a significant and valuable source of intel to them for many years.

    I strongly recommend this absolutely fascinating book for three reasons.

    First, it helps the reader to "get inside the mind of" a Communist. Why do they see the world this way? And how do they justify the violence and destruction? Why do they lie to themselves so appallingly? How do they stifle their conscience? Why do they have to convince Americans that our country is broken and needs fixing? Why do they thrive on crises, either real or created? What is "agit-prop," and do we see that tactic today? (As Sarah Palin would say: "You Betcha!")

    Second, the personal story and drama of Whittaker Chambers' life and escapades is incredibly compelling. For instance, his account of hiding from the vast, violent Communist network in fear for his life is amazing. He names others who broke from the Party and were assassinated. His brother committed suicide despite Chambers spending years trying to prevent it. The way that Chambers gradually came to faith is told with power and depth, very movingly. The hand of God is clearly evident in many incidents of Chambers' life. During the worst part of the Hiss trial, Chambers tried in his total despair to commit suicide, and God blocked it.

    It is also fascinating to read about the huge contrast between Chambers and Hiss. At the time of the Hiss trials, Chambers was poor, unattractive, overweight, rumply, humble, shy, and had terrible-looking teeth. He was a man of profound intellect yet simple tastes and desires. All he wanted to do was work his farm and raise his children to live on the land. By contrast, Alger Hiss was wealthy, handsome, the son of a privileged East Coast family, went to all the right schools, married a lady who also went to all the right schools, and knew all the right people. And, Hiss was incredibly well-spoken...a real orator. (Does ALL of this sound familiar????) There is much, much more!

    It bears repeating that Chambers was a profoundly talented writer. He truly had a remarkable gift with the English language. (He also spoke German, Russian, French, and a couple other languages.) Every page is a pleasure to read because he so deftly wielded the pen and prose. Instead of saying that his friend was a drunk, Chambers writes, "He was buoyed along by a generous displacement of Scotch."

    Finally, though, the most urgent reason to read the book is that Chambers exposed the total infiltration of the U.S. government by Communists and their "fellow travelers" (=sympathizers). EVERY single department of the U.S. government, from top to bottom, was completely infested with Communist spies, or with sympathizers who could influence policy and decision-making. This was called "the Red Scare." Chambers outlined the shocking scope in detail, including naming names. For instance, Alger Hiss was the #3 man at the State Department...while he was an active Soviet spy! Alger Hiss sat directly behind Roosevelt during the famous Yalta conference with Stalin and Churchill, where America's post-war policy and cooperation with Europe were formed.

    We would be breathtakingly naive to think that things are any different today. Just because Americans are complacent, spoiled, blissfully ignorant, and too busy watching TV or taking their kids to soccer games, doesn't mean that the enemies of Christ and of freedom are asleep, too. The battle rages!!

    The Leadership Institute recommends this book on their "Read to Lead" list of 25 top books "for conservatives who want to win."

    Robert Novak said that Witness changed his life. Not to be missed!
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  • Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2007
    Witness is among the most haunting books that I have ever read. The reader who picks it up expecting only a combination spy story and courtroom drama is likely to be as profoundly surprised as was I.

    I had somewhat absent-mindedly placed Witness on my birthday gift list, in deference to the frequency with which it is cited as one of the indispensable political books of the 20th century. Upon receipt, I assigned it to the "to-read" stack, failing to note that it was a daunting 800 pages long. Shortly after I began it and realized its length, I feared it would prove too dense for me to enjoy. How wrong I was: when I at last closed the book a couple of weeks later, I knew that it would haunt me, possibly for all the years I have left.

    Many conservatives regard this book as a seminal founding charter, a characterization that not only underrates its literary quality, but which also erects a needless barrier before others who would appreciate it. This book is must-reading, regardless of political persuasion. I myself differ from Chambers in several fundamental ways: I am as predisposed to optimism as he was to pessimism; I relished elementary school as greatly as he was tormented by it; and I do not share his religious faith. But these and other differences do not inhibit a reader from appreciating this magnificent book.

    This book not only tells a riveting story, it does so with a poetic, melancholy beauty reminiscent of a great Russian novelist. Something about his writing reminded me of Nabokov (an inexact comparison, given that the style exhibits none of Nabokov's exuberant, puckish wordplay). But Chambers's fluid, graceful sentences, and his gift for reconstruction of sensory and emotional states, are comparable to those of the brilliant Russian emigre. Suffice it so say that this book does not read like a bestselling memoir, but rather as a great work of literature.

    The story of Witness is of a man originally alienated from his society, and of his struggle to find good and meaning in his world. Chambers's account of his early life is deeply saddening. One suspects that the entire family was genetically predisposed to depression, considering his brother's suicide, the narrator's own similar attempts, and his parents' many self-destructive actions.

    Attending school only accentuated young Vivian's (later Whittaker's) sense of isolation. One story he relates is hard to forget: on one of his first school days, he witnessed three boys urinating on a lollipop, and then tricking a later-arriving fourth boy into putting it into his mouth. (The incident itself is gloomy enough; equally so is the fact that Chambers later remembered it as emblematic of his school experience.) Young Chambers is traumatized by the pervasive cruelty around him. He struggles through the ordeal of school - the mockery of his name Vivian, the taunts of being a "sissy," and being compelled to fight.

    One is hardly surprised that such an alienated, secretly intelligent, unappreciated youth, convinced of the intractable injustice of the world, would be seduced by communism. In the central section of the book, Chambers details his gradual descent into that world, first as an open party communist, later as a practitioner in espionage. It is in this section that he meets Alger Hiss, and collaborates with him in betraying his country.

    This middle section of the book is probably the most arduous reading. At points, many of the figures and spy escapades seem to all run together. But stick with it, because the final 300 pages or so, detailing the Hiss case, are among the most gripping you will ever read.

    Chambers at some point realizes that the actions and amorality of communist agitation offend his still-living conscience. He finally responds to that conscience, and begins a further personal journey to where he locates the spiritual comfort he previously lacked: in truth, in family, in working the land, and in religious faith.

    Ultimately, Chambers's break with the party compels him to inform on Alger Hiss and others during a Congressional investigation of communist infiltration of the executive branch. Chambers chooses his title of "Witness" advisedly, meaning "witness" in quite the literal, religious sense - a moral compulsion to testify to what he knows, in spite of the danger to himself, in order to help save the world around him. Indeed, Chambers is convinced that he is defecting from the winning to the losing side when he makes his break, but feels he cannot rightly do otherwise.

    Popular memory of this period in American history has been, unfortunately, blurred by the excesses of Joe McCarthy. McCarthy's crude and reckless actions have made him a convenient whipping boy for subsequent Hollywood treatments of the Cold War. It is too little remembered that prior to the McCarthy debacle, it was revealed that in fact, there were many communists who had ensconced themselves in the highest levels of the American government, where they practiced a treasonous espionage. The Chambers-Hiss case, much more than the buffoonery of McCarthy, is the truly dramatic and relevant parable of the age.

    Much of the final chapters of Witness is told through transcripts of the Congressional hearings. Reading them, one can only wish for a skilled Hollywood treatment of these scenes. The events included every dramatic turn one could hope for - the steady unraveling of a senior State Department official as his lies are exposed on the witness stand, the relentless and skilled probing of Congressional investigators, dramatic personal confrontations, the discovery of critical evidence midway through the proceedings, and even the secreting of classified material in a hollowed-out pumpkin.

    What is sobering to realize is that the case would be likely to play out in much the same way today: the press reflexively sided with the urbane, politically-approved Hiss, while the slovenly, seemingly-shady Chambers was subjected to every calumny imaginable. But it turned out that it was the schlub who was actually the man of intelligence and integrity. Appearances are often deceiving.

    One thing that leaps out from these pages after the fact is just how pathetically incompetent a liar was Alger Hiss. You follow him weaving and revising and hedging, and not very convincingly. But so blinding were the ascendant political assumptions of the time that he was the one who was initially believed.

    One needn't share Chambers's views on politics, religion, or even of the mind of the typical communist subversive, to find his memoir to be a story of surpassing poetry and haunting resonance. Few people have had such an important story to tell in their memoirs, and almost none have told them so lyrically. Few are the books that are virtually impossible to forget. This is one.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • WeMustResist
    5.0 out of 5 stars Beware! All is not well!
    Reviewed in Australia on June 26, 2015
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Terrific book! Well-composed, grand themes, full of characters, suspense, twists and drama. A lovely biography and an insight into the psychology of modern man. Very relevant today, because the secret Communists ally with the outrageous, bloodthirsty followers of you-know-who. The author would recognize today's types easily. He describes them so well. He shows that Marxists have 3 traits: (1) They are fixated on the evils of this world. Unlike a rational or balanced person, they spend no time thinking about the good things, or the costs and benefits of change. (2) They are stuck in a top-down view. They believe in strict discipline and hierarchy. They look from the top of the pyramid downwards. They do not see that civilization can be built from the bottom. (3) They think you can make a better world by evil acts. They scorn the idea that we make things better when we become better people. By the way they think God does not matter because He is either weak or not interested or does not exist. Muhammed shares the same traits as Marxists but he thought Allah believes in hate, lies and endless war. So the followers of Marx and Muhammed share some psychological traits and differ about the deity. Chamber's pessimism could be realism unless we learn to practice many more virtues than we do today. The challenge is ahead of us if we want civilization to survive. Read "Witness" to learn about the Leftist enemies of civilization. The book shows they can be lovable, and it shows they are sinister and powerful. When they quietly ally with other totalitarians then our freedoms and our lives are in danger.
  • JimmyT
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2017
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Excellent and enthralling piece of American Modern History
  • butterfly
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Book
    Reviewed in Canada on October 29, 2023
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This book should be on everyone's book shelf
  • Michael Shields
    5.0 out of 5 stars Content
    Reviewed in Germany on September 20, 2018
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    A brilliant read. All Americans should read this book. Such an important source to understand current US politics.
  • RockMachine
    5.0 out of 5 stars Truth
    Reviewed in Canada on January 5, 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
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