Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Based on exhaustive and creative research, this book is balanced, smart, and well written. The book-length Matt Cvetic that Leab paints is no less despicable than the miniatures to which we have become accustomed, but he is much more human and, therefore, more comprehensible than in any previous treatment.”
—Steve Rosswurm,Lake Forest State College
“A fascinating example of the way in which heroes were made during America’s scoundrel time. In this well-constructed book, Daniel Leab offers an excellent character study of Matt Cvetic and a useful case study of the Red Scare–Cold War era.”
—Phillip Jenkins,Penn State University, Author of The Cold War at Home
“Based on numerous interviews and a thorough scouring of (still heavily censored) FBI files and the documentary record, this is a definitive account of Cvetic that will be of considerable interest to specialists.”
—R.J. Goldstein CHOICE
“A well-researched and useful contribution to the still-growing literature on anti-communism and the Cold War.”
—Robert Griffith Journal of American History
“In this nicely researched study, Daniel Leab tells us all we need to know about him. Whether Cvetic merits a biography is open to question, but this study is appropriately short and much of it’s freshness lies in it’s analysis of the myth constructed around Cvetic by the media and, indeed, by Cvetic himself, his stories becoming ever more wilder as he struggles to maintain his celebrity status.”
—M. J. Heale Journal of American Studies
“If this book were not so well documented, I would have sworn that it was a beautifully constructed work of fiction.”
—Charisse T. M. Coston Criminal Justice Review
“A compelling account of the grubby life behind the gleaming mask of the Communist-hunter Matt Cvetic. The maze of hysteria, opportunism, and deceit that made up Cold War America is freshly illuminated by Leab’s study of Cvetic’s career. This book stands as an eloquent testimony of the depths to which America sank in the 1950s and is a timely reminder of the dangers of the media culture of celebrity.”
—Nick Cull,University of Leicester
“Meticulously researched, scrupulously fair-minded, and consistently enlightening, Dan Leab’s study of the strange and fascinating career of Matt Cvetic—Communist for the FBI and professional anti-Communist thereafter-is an invaluable contribution to American history. Drawing on newly available research materials and his own unmatched expertise in the culture of Cold War America, Leab paints a vivid portrait of a troubled man within the context of his no less troubling times.”
—Thomas Doherty,Brandeis University
