In re Alger Hiss Volume II (Introduction By Victor Rabinowitz)

It does not often happen that a legal pleading is published as a book. Certainly it is rare that such a document would pass muster as of interest to the general reader. The case of Alger Hiss, however, is not an ordinary case. It originated with hearings before the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities in 1948, in which Congressman Richard Nixon played the key role; the issues were tried in a prosecution against Hiss for perjury. The first trial in 1949, resulted in a hung jury, but the second trial, shortly afterward, ended in a conviction and Hiss spent over three and a half years in prison. The proceedings took place against a background of the cold war and rampant McCathyism. The case not only ruined Hiss' career but shook the foundations of the New Deal.