Witness

Rating:
Summary: One of the 25 most important conservative books
Review: A master of English prose, Chambers was a senior editor of Time magazine until he resigned, in 1948, to testify against a man he once considered his friend, Alger Hiss. Chambers testified that several years earlier, before World War II, he had been a member of the Communist Party of the United States, and that through the Party he had met Hiss, a fellow Party member and a State Department employee. What's more, Chambers charged that Hiss routinely delivered to him secret U.S. government papers to be given to the Soviets.

        At the time of Chambers' testimony, Hiss was president of the prestigious Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Chambers' charges shocked the liberal establishment. Hiss denied ever being a Communist and denied even knowing Whittaker Chambers. He made these denials in the wrong place, before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Thanks in part to the efforts of a congressman from California named Richard Nixon, Hiss was eventually convicted of perjuring himself in his testimony before the House committee and went to jail.

        Witness, Chambers' account of his ordeal, is powerful, wrenching book. Any conservative who reads the first section, Letter to My Children, should become a Chambers admirer for life.

Rating:
Summary: An Important Piece Of American History
Review: It is sad but true that a large portion of young Americans--even many with college degrees--probably have no idea who Whitaker Chambers was. Indeed, numerous conservatives likely know the name only as belonging to someone who was anti-communist but would be unable to provide more than vague generalities on his life and accomplishments.

Ann Coulter helped rectify this unfortunate development last year with the publication of her mega-bestseller "Slander". Her trenchant exploration of twentieth century communism and the unbridled invective hurled against those who dared to oppose the murderous ideology introduced Chambers to a whole new generation. In interviews she has often stated that his autobiography Witness is one of the absolute-must reads for conservatives and an important title for all students of American history.

As someone whose knowledge of Alger Hiss' nemesis was lacking, I decide to follow the sapient blonde's advice and picked up a copy of the 800-page memoir. I now second Miss Coulter's call; Witness is a moving and educational read. The extent to which communists infiltrated the United States Government in pre-World War days is frightening both in its scope and in the fact that today few Americans appreciate just how serious actual security breaches were. Chambers was well-qualified to address the magnitude of the red threat because for more than a decade he was a part of the menace. As a committed fellow traveler, he hobnobbed in all the right (left?) circles. So powerful was the communist structure within our nation that when he eventually grew disillusioned and abandoned the atheistic dead end, he firmly believed that he was "leaving the wining world for the losing world."

Among the most striking features of the communist organization he exposed was its massive bureaucratic nature. Within the clandestine cabal there was an "underground" so completely sequestered from the regular communists that few committed adherents knew who was who in the parallel penumbras. Additionally, the labyrinthine steps taken to maintain secrecy are almost laughable. Chambers' talks about never learning addresses to places he regularly visited for years; rather he knew to get there by landmarks and neighborhoods. This was a precaution in case of capture--unknown information could not be provided to the authorities. Furthermore, Chambers relates cumbersome machinations for all his assignments; yet his endeavors to deliver "plans" or meet ever-changing, ephemeral "contacts" seem like little more than wheel-spinning busy work. It is no wonder that conspiracy theories abound among modern day leftists--the direct descendants of the very group that perfected the art.

Many of Chambers' observations are as suitable to the early 21st century as they were in the 1940s. A cavalier attitude toward abortion permeated communists. As soon as his first child was conceived Chambers and his wife readily conceded that abortion was their only option, but when faced with the reality of their circumstance, the innate bond of parenthood trumped the dictates of good communists. Mrs. Chambers informed her husband, "we couldn't do that awful thing to a little baby," a demand that he whole-heartedly accepted.

Considering that Chambers' communist days predated the formation of Israel, his asides on that issue truly show how much things have remained the same. He writes "Arab outrages were occurring in Palestine; the Communist International chose that moment to call for the formation of a "Soviet Arabism" to attack the Zionists." He also talks about how pure communism demanded its followers' ideologies remain and in an earlier incarnation of Hillary's Clinton's dreaded "right wing conspiracy," he sites numerous expulsions due to "rightwing deviationism." Even the problem of illegal immigration is shown to not be an entirely new phenomenon. At least one German communist contact is described as "probably in the United States illegally."

One situation that has changed radically concerns Chambers successful post-Communist career at Time. It is not newsmagazine today.

Beyond the important political tale Chambers tells, his personal story proves inspirational too. Born into a badly dysfunctional home (his only brother committed suicide, his parents lived in the same house without communicating for years), the lost soul was easy prey to the false promises of communist utopia. Marrying a left-leaner and starting a family as an avowed red forced him to confront reality, and his transformation to conservative Christian was painful and controversial but ultimately redemptive.

His celebrated accusations against Alger Hiss stripped away his family's privacy and provoked piles of scorn upon his name (think Linda Tripp, Ken Starr, Miquel Estrada, Clarence Thomas, etc.) With the release of KGB files a few years ago Alger Hiss' guilt was proven anew, yet some influential voices still argue the traitor's innocence. As quoted in Robert Novak's newly added introduction, upon Hiss' 1996 death liberals from President Clinton's National Security Adviser Anthony Lake to Peter Jennings spoke of the charges against Hiss as either false or unsubstantiated. The incontrovertible record tells a different story, and Witness lays out the facts in perhaps a more engrossing and chilling way than any other source. Ann Coulter's Slander makes for an engaging and stimulating read, but Whittaker Chambers eloquently gives the full story in his own words.

Rating:
Summary: Time to accept the painful truth
Review: It's only after the cold war that we can accept the threatening truth of "Witness". There was a massive spy network in place in the United States. Many of our best and brightest worked to subvert the American democracy and Constitution. Any objective look at history now shows that Alger Hiss was guilty just as the Rosenbergs were.

But there's a deeper message behind "Witness". Chambers wants us to know that the Cold War wasn't about the conflict between faith and no faith. It was about a war between two faiths, both deeply held. Chambers ultimately opted for Christianity over Communism because he became aware of the evil the latter inevitably produced. He gave the reason one of his acquaintances gave up the Communist faith. It was simple and moving: He heard screams.

Read this book and appreciative the moving genius of Whittaker Chambers.

Rating:
Summary: Eloquent and Piercing
Review: Rarely in literature does a novel impact its readers so deeply. In both prefaces, one written by William F. Buckley, jr, the other Robert Novak, the authors claim that Whittaker Chambers' autobiography changed their lives. This sentiment is shared by myself and surely thousands of others who have read it.

This book is difficult to categorize. It is an autobiography, an historical account, a religious tome, a political science examination, a thriller, and much more. The novel accounts Chambers' life as a Communist, working in the underground sector which infiltrated the U.S. government, and his eventual break with the Communists to live in fear, only to one day be the chief witness against his friend and former comrade, Alger Hiss. This trial still draws great emotions today, though it is difficult to doubt Hiss' guilt after reading this.

The book's title, however, does not simply refer to the trial itself. As Chambers explains in his introduction, he was witness to two opposite faiths; Communism and Christianity. It is Chambers' account of his experiences in these faiths which is the true draw of this book. The story is enthralling and beautifully written (Chambers writes better than any author with whom I have come in contact), but Chambers' explanation of what caused him to switch faiths and what it means to be a part of each is the most captivating aspect.

The length of the book (over 800 pages) is welcome once the first pages are read. The account of his life, though not perfectly chronological, is written in a very organized and well-thought out manner. I cannot recommend this book enough. Although Conservatives will likely be more drawn to Chambers' words, the impact of his experiences should be shared by all. I will read it many times in my life, but it would be best that all Americans read it at least once.