The Age Of Anxiety: Mccarthyism To Terrorism - Hardcover

Johnson, Haynes

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0151010625 ISBN 13: 9780151010622

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005

Synopsis

For five long years in the 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy and his anti-Communist crusade dominated the American scene, terrified politicians, and destroyed the lives of thousands of our citizens. In this masterful history, Haynes Johnson re-creates that time of crisis-of President Eisenhower, who hated McCarthy but would not attack him; of the Republican senators who cynically used McCarthy to win their own elections; of Edward R. Murrow, whose courageous TV broadcast began McCarthy's downfall; and of mild-mannered lawyer Joseph Welch, who finally shamed McCarthy into silence.

Johnson tells this monumental story through the lens of its relevance to our own time, when fear again affects American behavior and attitudes, for he believes now, as then, that our civil liberties, our Constitution, and our nation are at stake as we confront the ever more difficult task of balancing the need for national security with that of personal liberty.

Compelling narrative history, insightful political commentary, and intimate personal remembrance combine to make The Age of Anxiety a vitally important book for our time.

Extremism-and the suspicion and hatred it engenders-may be Joe McCarthy's most lasting legacy . . . For these and other reasons, while McCarthy and the leading players of his time- Truman and Acheson, Eisenhower and Nixon, the Kennedy brothers and LBJ, Cohn and Schine, Stalin and Mao-have long since passed from the scene, McCarthyism remains a story without an end. -f rom the book.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"Excellent . . . Johnson’s book may have the prescription for righting ourselves this time."?The Seattle Times

"Packs a wallop. With considerable skill, Johnson tells the tale of the rise and fall of Joe McCarthy?and applies it to . . . the present president."?The Providence Journal

For five long years in the 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist crusade dominated the American scene, terrified politicians, and destroyed the lives of thousands of U.S. citizens. In The Age of Anxiety, Johnson tells this monumental story through the lens of its relevance to our own time, when the current administration has created a culture of fear that again affects American behavior and attitudes. Now, as then, our civil liberties, our Constitution, and our nation are at stake as we confront the ever more difficult task of balancing the need for national security with that of personal liberty.

"Exciting and vivaciously written . . . Johnson describes the events of 1950-54 with a verve that other accounts rarely equal."?St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Not only a brilliant history of the McCarthy era but also a warning about our present fears and political caution."?The Christian Century HAYNES JOHNSON, a Pulitzer Prize?winning journalist, is the author of five national bestsellers, including The Best of Times, a New York Times Notable Book. He served three years in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and holds a master’s degree in American history from the University of Wisconsin. He lives in Washington, D.C.

About the Author:

HAYNES JOHNSON, a Pulitzer Prize- winning journalist, is the author of five national bestsellers, including his last, The Best of Times, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He has been a reporter, editor, and columnist for the Washington Post and a commentator for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and the Today show. He lives in Washington, D.C.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0151010625
• ISBN 13: 9780151010622
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 609