Steve Whitfield (Max Richter Professor of American Civilization, Brandeis University)

February 19, 2012

In the early years of the Cold War, fear of the Soviet Union led some Americans to conclude that Soviet subversion was destroying American society from within. If not actual spies, then certainly enemies — some deliberate apostles of Communism, others unwitting dupes — were everywhere: in the universities, in the entertainment industry, in journalism, even in the federal government. What fueled the anti-Communist frenzy? How did it manifest itself? What impact did it have on American life?

Subjects

History / Soviet Union / McCarthyism / Cold War / Communism / American History / The Fifties /