Owen Lattimore and the "Loss" of China

Rating:
Summary: Red Scare
Review: This book describes the life of Owen Lattimore, his travels and his work in China during in the mid-to-late-forties. The central part of the book deals with how McCarthy and others blamed Lattimore for the so-called "Loss of China" to the Communists. It includes a detailed accounts of Congressional Investigations and Hearings, illegal investigations by Hoover and the FBI, and Lattimore's trial for allegedly lying to Congress about his "Communist Activities." This includes an excellent account of his lawyer's efforts. Finally, it describes how he was sacked by Johns Hopkins as a result of the trial. A truely fascinating account of how the government of the USA attempted to blame a scholar for the defeat of an inept and corrupt regime by Mao.
The book captures the hysteria of the time and it also is a complement to Tuchman's "Stillwell and the American Experience in China"