The final word on the most controversial spy case of the twentieth century

Although more than a half century has passed since the jury at Alger Hiss's second trial pronounced him guilty of perjury, the case remains controversial. The Hiss-Chambers case has continued to make headlines and attract considerable media attention in the years since Perjury was first published in 1978; this new edition incorporates evidence discovered only in the past two decades, bringing the story up to the present. The author has sought and gained access to many previously undiscovered or unavailable sources of documentary and oral evidence, both in this country and abroad. Weinstein's research in more than two dozen archives uncovered important new material and helped verify numerous details about the case. Another new feature of this edition is a series of narrative profiles of six important figures in the case, including Richard Nixon, all of whose lives were changed by Hiss-Chambers.

Although nothing written at a distance of more than six decades can undo those effects, this analysis can perhaps explain the passion that the case still arouses.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The final word on the most controversial spy case of the twentieth century

Although more than a half century has passed since the jury at Alger Hiss's second trial pronounced him guilty of perjury, the case remains controversial. The Hiss-Chambers case has continued to make headlines and attract considerable media attention in the years since Perjury was first published in 1978; this new edition incorporates evidence discovered only in the past two decades, bringing the story up to the present. The author has sought and gained access to many previously undiscovered or unavailable sources of documentary and oral evidence, both in this country and abroad. Weinstein's research in more than two dozen archives uncovered important new material and helped verify numerous details about the case. Another new feature of this edition is a series of narrative profiles of six important figures in the case, including Richard Nixon, all of whose lives were changed by Hiss-Chambers.

Although nothing written at a distance of more than six decades can undo those effects, this analysis can perhaps explain the passion that the case still arouses.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Allen Weinstein served as archivist of the United States from 2005 to 2009. In 1985, he founded the Center for Democracy, a Washington-based nonprofit, and remained its president until 2003. Weinstein has held professorships at Smith College, Georgetown, and Boston University. Weinstein received the United Nations Peace Medal in 1986, the Council of Europe's Silver Medal twice, in 1990 and 1996, and the Edgar Allan Poe Special Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his original edition of Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case. His previous books include The Story of America, Freedom and Crisis: An American History, Prelude to Populism, and The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America--the Stalin Era.

REVIEWS

"So far as any one book can dispel a large historical mystery, this book does it, magnificently."
-- Garry Wills, New York Review of Books

" Lucidly written, impressively researched, closely argued... The result is formidable."
-- Irving Howe, New York Times Sunday Book Review

"A historic event... Stunningly meticulous, a monument to the intellectual ideal of truth stalked to its hiding place."
-- George Will, Newsweek

"The most exciting piece of history in recent memory."
-- William F. Buckley

"The most objective and convincing account we have of the most dramatic court case of the century."
-- Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

PREVIEW

Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case by Allen Weinstein by Hoover Institution