Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America

Details
For this meeting, we’ll be discussing Clay Risen’s Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America. A gripping look at how the U.S. turned on itself during the Cold War—and how the echoes of McCarthyism still reverberate today.

The book is 471 pages long. The audiobook version is 15 hours and 16 minutes.

If you don’t think you’ll have time to read the book, but still want to join the discussion, you can watch this interview with the author where he talks about the book.

Book Description
A revealing new portrait of McCarthyism—showing how the paranoia and cruelty of the Red Scare extended far beyond its namesake senator, and why it’s more relevant than ever.

The Red Scare is infamous for its victims—Hollywood screenwriters, leftist academics, suspected spies. But it was far more than the antics of Joe McCarthy. In Red Scare, Clay Risen shows how the rise of American global power during the Cold War spurred a nationwide panic that stretched from union halls to university campuses, from the FBI to the Oval Office.

Drawing on dozens of newly declassified sources, Risen tells a sweeping story through a vivid cast of characters—politicians, bureaucrats, whistleblowers, and everyday Americans. He explores how institutions from the State Department to the post office were reshaped by loyalty tests, blacklists, and purges—and how many of the forces at play then are re-emerging today.