Whittaker Chambers : A Biography

Rating:
Summary: Master of Deceit
Review: This book is not only interesting, informative, and powerful, it's an easy read. I read a great deal, and this is one of the very best books I have ever read -- and I was only tepidly interested in the subject before I read it.

Rating:
Summary: Definitive Assessment of Chambers and the Hiss Case
Review: This is probably the best version of the Whittaker Chambers's life. It is particularly useful as a supplement to Chambers's own story: "Witness."

Tanenhaus's biography of Whittaker Chamber was written with a deliberately neutral stance, although collaborated well with Chambers's own story. It was backed by copious and meticulous research, and filled in more than a few gaps.

The most notable gaps in "Witness" included Chambers's strong [same sex] tendencies and his having engaged in habitual [same sex] acts for a period of time, even though he had made testimonial depositions to that effect. In fact, in "Witness", the reader gets the impression that Chambers regarded his adversaries' insinuation of his [alternative lifestyle] as a baseless attack. Another omission was that Chambers, in his youth, was apprehended for stealing significant number of books from two libraries, and was barred from them. These issues later emerged as a strike against him during the Hiss trials. A third, perhaps most significant "omission" was that Chambers in his own book consistently claimed that the reason he withheld the evidence of espionage was because he wanted to shield Hiss and his family from being prosecuted for a much more serious crime. The truth of the matter was that Chambers was also shielding himself from the same crime. Tanenhaus's book provided these facets, which Chambers would rather not get into.

Tanenhaus's book also gave a much more nuanced version of the proceedings of the Hiss trials, including defense lawyer Stryker's courtroom rhetoric and the sparring on the Woodstock typewriter. As well, there were some interesting facets of Chambers's life after the Hiss trial, in particular the writing and publication of "Witness", his declining health, his support of and eventual distancing from Senator Joseph McCarthy, his friendship with the up-and-coming William Buckley, Jr., and the gradual, mellowing shift of his political thinking in his last years away from the extreme right. Also, Tanenhaus's book added some new material regarding the accusation, which surfaced after the cold war, that tend to put Alger Hiss's guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Although not as riveting as "Witness", this book more than held its own in terms of style, pace, clarity, completeness, and analytic insight. Tanenhaus also tried hard to maintain a sense of neutrality on a person as complex and controversial as Whittaker Chambers. I am quite willing to regard "Whittaker Chambers" as the definitive portrayal of the person, and definitive assessment of the Hiss Case.

Rating:
Summary: Definitive Assessment of Chambers and the Hiss Case
Review: This is probably the best version of the Whittaker Chambers's life. It is particularly useful as a supplement to Chambers's own story: "Witness."

Tanenhaus's biography of Whittaker Chamber was written with a deliberately neutral stance, although collaborated well with Chambers's own story. It was backed by copious and meticulous research, and filled in more than a few gaps.

The most notable gaps in "Witness" included Chambers's strong [same sex] tendencies and his having engaged in habitual [same sex] acts for a period of time, even though he had made testimonial depositions to that effect. In fact, in "Witness", the reader gets the impression that Chambers regarded his adversaries' insinuation of his [alternative lifestyle] as a baseless attack. Another omission was that Chambers, in his youth, was apprehended for stealing significant number of books from two libraries, and was barred from them. These issues later emerged as a strike against him during the Hiss trials. A third, perhaps most significant "omission" was that Chambers in his own book consistently claimed that the reason he withheld the evidence of espionage was because he wanted to shield Hiss and his family from being prosecuted for a much more serious crime. The truth of the matter was that Chambers was also shielding himself from the same crime. Tanenhaus's book provided these facets, which Chambers would rather not get into.

Tanenhaus's book also gave a much more nuanced version of the proceedings of the Hiss trials, including defense lawyer Stryker's courtroom rhetoric and the sparring on the Woodstock typewriter. As well, there were some interesting facets of Chambers's life after the Hiss trial, in particular the writing and publication of "Witness", his declining health, his support of and eventual distancing from Senator Joseph McCarthy, his friendship with the up-and-coming William Buckley, Jr., and the gradual, mellowing shift of his political thinking in his last years away from the extreme right. Also, Tanenhaus's book added some new material regarding the accusation, which surfaced after the cold war, that tend to put Alger Hiss's guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Although not as riveting as "Witness", this book more than held its own in terms of style, pace, clarity, completeness, and analytic insight. Tanenhaus also tried hard to maintain a sense of neutrality on a person as complex and controversial as Whittaker Chambers. I am quite willing to regard "Whittaker Chambers" as the definitive portrayal of the person, and definitive assessment of the Hiss Case.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Biography About a Complicated Man
Review: Whittaker Chambers still arouses great passions. He accused Alger Hiss (and others) of spying for the Soviet Union and claims he knew that it was true because he was himself a communist spy and was Hiss's contact. But that story, while a part of this book, isn't the sole focus of this magnificent book. You can read the story of the trials of Alger Hiss, the testimony given, and more about that story in Allen Weinstein's very fine "Perjury" (a book which also arouses strong emotions).

The story of Chambers' life is also told by Chambers himself in his powerful autobiography "Witness". His life is a rather involved tale, and though the spy story is why Chambers became famous (infamous) it isn't reason why he is important. It is hard to recapture the vast esteem in which Stalin and the Soviet Union were held by the "literate" classes in American Society. But it doesn't take too much reading to peel back current revisionist writing that pretends the left rejected Stalin. It wasn't so. They loved Uncle Joe at the time of the Hiss case and made apologies for him even after the horrors of the Gulag were revealed. Even after Hiss' guilt has been proven beyond all but the most determined and self-blinded doubt, you can find those who insist on his innocence.

Whittaker Chambers was a gifted writer and a well regarded editor at Henry Luce's Time magazine. When he admitted his role in spying for the USSR and International Communism it represented the initial break in the dam. In "Witness", Chambers' autobiography, Chambers describes the agony he went through in realizing he had no choice but to take the course of trying to stop Hiss and thereby ruining his own life and irreparably harming his family.

Chambers was pessimistic about the West surviving a mortal struggle with Communism. He is often linked with McCarthy, but he thought McCarthy's recklessness more of a benefit to the other side.

"Witness" was an important best seller and is still in print. In it Chambers pours out his conscience and how his atheism turned to a deep faith and why that turned him against the movement he had embraced and had helped prosper through his gifts as a writer and editor.In this amazing book.

In this wonderful biography, Tanenhaus gives us context for all of this and so much more detail. The author also provides verification (and refutation) of claims made by and about Chambers. This book is beautifully written and carefully researched. The author shows great judgment and insight into all of the issues involved in this rich life at the extremes of human philosophy.

It is wrong to condemn this book and its author because of anger with Chambers. It is beyond all doubt that the thrust of Chambers' story was the truth. In my judgement, it is the truth in all but a few details. Tanenhaus is the reporter of fact and wishes that reality were different cannot change the facts. What is the old saying? You are entitled to your own interpretations, but not your own facts.

We owe Tanenhaus a great deal for putting such wonderful talent and years of hard work in giving us this outstanding book. This book was the subject of a great interview on Booknotes and is still available online. I am glad to see that this book is now part of the Modern Library series. It should be widely read.