Rating: 
Summary: "Anticommunism was the moral equivalency of rape"
Review: To quote Hayden's "Students for a Democratic Society". This is an excellent book about the Left's blindspot--either willfull or self-deluded--towards the atrocities of the Soviet Union and Communist movements in general. Radosh begins in the late 30s early 40s--when Leftist attacked FDR as a war-mongerer during the Nazi-Soviet pact--and ends w/ Bianca Jagger strutting around nude during the anti-Sandinista Nicuaraguan elections in the late 80s. The stories and anecdotes Radosh brings out are entertaining and in ways, frightening, because of the depth of the willful ignorance of Communist atrocities within the Leftist collective consciousness. Michael Lerner, Bob Scheer, Ed Asner...these people still walk around w/ a hefty amount of credibility to the crowds they play to. That's disturbing. Radosh also returns to the Rosenberg case, and shows how the Venona taps confirm the guilt of the Rosenbergs. He also tells of the Leftist reactions to this, either denial (like many reviewers below, many of which don't even address the consequences of the Venona "secrets") or worse, "The facts are irrelevant, we need the Rosenbergs as heroes".I'm only giving it four stars, because I think that David Horowitz' Radical Son is a better overall biography (more personal and honest), and Horowitz explains the personal appeal of and rationale behind Leftism. Radosh's book is more of a summary of Leftist vomit, like the above quote from the SDS, but it's still an excellent book about one side of the political spectrum during the Cold War.
Rating:
Summary: "Anticommunism was the moral equivalency of rape"
Review: To quote Hayden's "Students for a Democratic Society". This is an excellent book about the Left's blindspot--either willfull or self-deluded--towards the atrocities of the Soviet Union and Communist movements in general. Radosh begins in the late 30s early 40s--when Leftist attacked FDR as a war-mongerer during the Nazi-Soviet pact--and ends w/ Bianca Jagger strutting around nude during the anti-Sandinista Nicuaraguan elections in the late 80s. The stories and anecdotes Radosh brings out are entertaining and in ways, frightening, because of the depth of the willful ignorance of Communist atrocities within the Leftist collective consciousness. Michael Lerner, Bob Scheer, Ed Asner...these people still walk around w/ a hefty amount of credibility to the crowds they play to. That's disturbing. Radosh also returns to the Rosenberg case, and shows how the Venona taps confirm the guilt of the Rosenbergs. He also tells of the Leftist reactions to this, either denial (like many reviewers below, many of which don't even address the consequences of the Venona "secrets") or worse, "The facts are irrelevant, we need the Rosenbergs as heroes". I'm only giving it four stars, because I think that David Horowitz' Radical Son is a better overall biography (more personal and honest), and Horowitz explains the personal appeal of and rationale behind Leftism. Radosh's book is more of a summary of Leftist vomit, like the above quote from the SDS, but it's still an excellent book about one side of the political spectrum during the Cold War.
| 
