Ordeal by Slander

Book excerpt: "Joseph McCarthy was not yet a household name in March 1950 when the rogue senator smeared Owen Lattimore as the "top Russian espionage agent in the country." Lattimore, a scholar of Asian studies, learned about the accusation a week later while traveling in Afghanistan. Fearing that he had already lost valuable time to rebut the smear, Lattimore succinctly cabled the Associated Press "McCarthy's rantings pure moonshine," and returned to the United States to defend his good name." "A few months later - following a torturous Senate inquisition detailed here - Lattimore published Ordeal by Slander, the first great book to emerge from the McCarthy era. It is a gripping read, as important today as it was in the summer of 1950. Lattimore wrote it in a white heat, indignant that he, or any loyal citizen, could see his patriotism questioned. It was immediately reviewed in more than sixteen periodicals - a critic in the San Francisco Chronicle judged "Americans owe it to Lattimore - and even more to themselves - to get the story here." The book quickly became a bestseller, going through five printings that summer. In a battle for his very liberty, Lattimore's narrative chronicled his defense and how he undermined his accusers."--BOOK JACKET.