The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Case - Softcover

Roberts, Sam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1476747385 ISBN 13: 9781476747385

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2014

Synopsis

“A fresh and fast-paced study of one of the most important crimes of the twentieth century” (The Washington Post), The Brother now discloses new information revealed since the original publication in 2003—including an admission by his sons that Julius Rosenberg was indeed a Soviet spy and a confession to the author by the Rosenbergs’ co-defendant.

Sixty years after their execution in June 1953 for conspiring to steal atomic secrets, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg remain the subjects of great emotional debate and acrimony. The man whose testimony almost single-handedly convicted them was Ethel Rosenberg’s own brother, David Greenglass, who recently died. Though the Rosenbergs were executed, Greenglass served a mere ten years in prison, after which, with a new name, he disappeared. But journalist Sam Roberts found Greenglass, and then managed to convince him to talk about everything that had happened.

Since the original publication of The Brother, Roberts sued to release grand jury testimony, which further implicates Greenglass and demonstrates how the prosecution was tainted. One of the defendants, Morton Sobell, admitted to Roberts that he and Julius Rosenberg were spies. Furthermore, Michael and Robert Meeropol, the Rosenbergs’ sons, acknowledged to Roberts that although their mother was not legally culpable, that the “secret” to the atomic bomb was not compromised, and that the death penalty was excessive, their father was, in fact, guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union.

Now released with this important new information, The Brother is more than ever, “A gripping account of the most famous espionage case in US history...an excellent book, written with flair and alive with the agony of the age” (The Wall Street Journal).

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Fifty years after their execution in June 1953 for conspiring to steal atomic secrets, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg remain the subjects of great emotional debate and acrimony. The man whose testimony almost single-handedly convicted them was Ethel Rosenberg?s own brother, David Greenglass. Though the Rosenbergs were executed, Greenglass served a mere ten years in prison, after which, with a new name, he disappeared. But journalist Sam Roberts found Greenglass, and then managed to convince him to talk about everything that had happened.
So here at last is the mesmerizing inside story of the Rosenberg case: What were their lives like growing up on the Lower East Side? How was David Greenglass enlisted in a plot to hand over to the Soviets our greatest national secret? And how, finally, did the whole thing unravel? Even beyond that, The Brother reveals how David Greenglass perjured himself in testifying about his sister and her husband?testimony that virtually strapped them into the electric chair.
The Brother is a great narrative, far more mesmerizing than anything else written on the subject. It is a story of espionage. It is the story of a trial. And, most tragically, it is the story of a family.

From the Back Cover:

“A fresh and fast-paced study of one of the most important crimes of the twentieth century.”— The Washington Post

“[Sam Roberts] is a deft writer able to weave science, history, and criminal investigation into an absorbing narrative that at times reads like a spy thriller—even if you do know how the story ends.”— The Boston Globe

“An absorbing account of the Rosenberg atomic spy drama seen through the eyes of [David] Greenglass . . . whose testimony helped send his sister, Ethel Rosenberg, and her husband, Julius, to the electric chair in 1953.”
— The New York Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1476747385
• ISBN 13: 9781476747385
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 608