Bøker av Harvey Klehr

"Karr started in life as a leg man for scandal-monging columnist Drew Pearson. He was long accused of being a card-carrying communist. He avoided a career crash-and-burn when anti-communism peaked, by claiming to have been working for the FBI. This was certainly untrue. Karr did PR for political campaigns, then the private sector. His political background was obviously a source of his unscrupulousness, and it certainly gave him an edge in business. Many hated him and thought him unethical; others admired his drive and aggression. Karr succeeded in charming an elderly French hotel owner to sell her prize Paris hotel properties to Forte, after many others had failed. Karr is also rumored by his competitor for business in Russia, Armand Hammer to have sold arms to the PLO. Karr's counter-rumor is that Hammer was caught in a scheme calculated to endear himself to Brezhnev, by stealing some letters of Lenin, then arranging to buy them back in an auction, then grandly to return them to Mother Russia. However, he was caught at this by the KGB. Karr soon found himself as a top executive of an industrial firm, but running a company turned out not to be his talent. A ladies' man, Karr had a succession of well-connected wives. He also wound up richer than anyone exactly expected. The sudden discovery by his heirs of big bucks spawned a nasty and colorful legal battle among his ex-wives and children. There was a lot of reporting in New York and Paris speculating that the Soviets had done him in. Aristotle Onassis; Bobby Kennedy; President Lyndon Baines Johnson, Bobby's hated rival; Kennedy pal and Ambassador to France Sargent Shriver; Palestinian terrorists; and various KGB agents fill this book chockablock with intriguing stories one after another."--Provided by publisher.

For the first time, the hidden world of American communism can be examined with the help of documents from the recently opened archives of the former Soviet Union. By interweaving narrative and documents, the authors of this book present a convincing new picture of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), one of the most controversial organizations in American public life. Heated debates about whether the Communist Party harbored spies or engaged in espionage have surrounded the party from its inception. This authoritative book provides proof that the CPUSA was involved in various subversive activities. At the same time, it discloses fascinating details about the workings of the party and about the ordinary Americans and CPUSA leaders who participated in its clandestine activities.The documents presented range from letters by Americans wishing to do international covert work for the Soviet Union to top secret memos between the head of Soviet foreign intelligence, the Comintern, and the CPUSA. They confirm that--the Soviet Union heavily subsidized the CPUSA and that some prominent Americans laundered money for the Comintern;--the CPUSA maintained a covert espionage apparatus in the United States with direct ties to Soviet intelligence;--the testimony of former Communists concerning underground Communist activity in the United States can be substantiated;--American Communists working in government agencies stole documents and passed them to the CPUSA, which sent them on to Moscow;--the CPUSA played a role in atomic espionage;and much more.An engrossing narrative places the documents in their historical context and explains key figures, organizations, and events. Together the narrative and documents provide a revealing picture of American communism and convey the contradictory passions that drew so many Americans into the Communist movement and eventually tore that movement apart.

?Less a biographical dictionary than a collection of essays on some 275 individuals, including important figures from the 19th century and a few from the New Left, most of them (about 75 percent) born between 1870 and 1920 and prominent in the major left wing organizations of the first half of the 20th century. ... The essays, some quite long, treat both individuals and the history of the parties to which they belonged. Some 50 scholars contributed, with about 40 percent of the essays written by Johnpoll and Klehr. Appendixes categorize individuals by major radical party affiliation, birthplace, birthdate, and ethnic origin, and list those who abandoned the left. The index includes individuals, organizations, and periodicals. ... Recommended for academic libraries.?-Choice

The Communist Party, one of America's largest and longest lasting radical groups, offers many lessons about how radical political groups can take advantage of - or squander - their opportunities. This title focuses on the theme of American exceptionalism and problems that America's capitalist society raised for Marxism and other radical groups.