Recollections of a Life - Softcover

Hiss, Alger

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1559700246 ISBN 13: 9781559700245

Publisher: Little Brown, 1989

Synopsis

The author recalls his apprenticeship with Justice Holmes, his days in the New Deal, his Yalta Conference trip with Roosevelt, the founding of the United Nations, the accusation of him being a Communist spy, his trial and imprisonment, and later years

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

The 83-year-old Hiss launches a stinging attack on key players in the two trials that sentenced him to four years in prison for stealing State Department files for the Soviet Union. He portrays his accuser, Whittaker Chambers, as a psychopath and pawn of the FBI. Presenting documentation in support of his innocence, he charges that J. Edgar Hoover fabricated the case against him out of vindictivenessas a New Deal reformer, Hiss had called Hoover's lust for personal power a national disgrace. He also blasts Richard Nixon, his "unofficial prosecutor," who reportedly advanced his political career by convicting Hiss. When not reviewing the notorious 1948 spy case, this memoir is mostly mellow, presenting the author's recollections of his career. Highlights include the Yalta Conference, his investigation of war profiteers, the launching of the United Nations and meetings with Eleanor Roosevelt and H. G. Wells.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Hisssecretary to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, ardent New Dealer, and secretary-general of the founding U.N. Conferencewas convicted in 1950 of perjury in denying his part in Communist espionage. Feelings about Hiss have run high ever since. The 83-year-old author only partially focuses on his claim of innocence and his recent unsuccessful attempt to establish it legally. Readers unfamiliar with Hiss may find this collection of vignettes, including accounts of a youthful summer spent in France and his four years in prison, unsatisfying. Detractors may remain unconvinced, but Hiss's supporters will enjoy these gentle reminiscences and the conclusion of a life well spent with no cause for bitterness or regrets. For informed readers and specialists.Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little Brown
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 1559700246
• ISBN 13: 9781559700245
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240