This is one of the great American Autobiographies. I originally was seeking information about the Hiss trial for professional curiosity. What I got was the story of a courageous, tormented man. His disillusion with the Communist party and his religious conversion.
Many of the Communist intellectuals of the 30's shared Chambers disenchantment with the Party. The Italian novelist Ignazio Silone and the great Arthur Koestler edited a very informative work on the subject "The God that Failed". But no other work matched the personal description of Chambers. The book deals not so much with the two trials of Alger Hiss on a perjury indictment and concentrates more on Chambers's life, up to 1950, and his testimony and Hiss's statements before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and the Manhattan Grand Jury which indicted Hiss.
Of course some readers will have a negative view of the work of the Committee, and one of the heroes of the book Richard Nixon(!!), but I urge them to put that aside and read this book. There really was serious Communist infiltration of the American Government and Hiss really was guilty. B I've always been a staunch anti Communist and Chambers's testimony was the beginning of the end for the Soviet "apparatus" in the US. Nevertheless, his description of the party faithful of his era actually led me to develop a grudging respect for the dedication and personal sacrifices which they made in furtherance of their misguided beliefs. The reader must remember that the World looked very different in the 1930s. Chambers came to this realization in 1938. This led him to realize that he had a moral obligation to denounce those of his former comrades who were still working against his Country. Finally, much of what Chambers wrote of is still relevant today. My highest recommendation.
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