Witness

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Summary: The Essential Struggle of the Twentieth Century.
Review: This book essentially revolves around the key social struggle of the Twentieth Century, Communism v. Capitalism. However, as I read this work I realized that the struggle, as Chambers saw it, was Modernity v. Christianity. Chambers paints himself as a man who is convinced that Modernity would reign supreme, and that the quientessential representative of Modernity is Communism.

Chambers also exposes Alger Hiss and brought the infiltration of Communism in US Government to the fore. This topic is a passionate one on both sides, but the Venona Papers (declassified KGB documents) bear witness to the accuracy of Chamber's accusations. In the end, Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury for lying about being a Soviet agent. The statute of limitations for the crime of being an agent had lapsed.

This is a powerful, emotional book. If a book can pursuade a lifelong Democrat to register Republican for the first time, and put him on a collision course with history, then the book is worth the read--even if you disagree with the thesis. From what I gather, this book led to Ronald Reagan running for President.

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Summary: wonderfull story of one mans struggle
Review: I first read this book because of the recent former soviet Union documents that just came out proving once and for all Alger Hiss was agent for the soviet Union. I am only 22 and therefor didn't grow up during this episode. I was shocked after reading the book that any sane person would believe Alger Hiss wasn't a agent of the Soviet Union. It is trully sad that there are actually people living today that still think Hiss was innocent Altogether I found this book to be a brilliant story of one mans struggle against communism and the media bent on destroying him. Although He had all the evidence backing him up people still refused to believe the truth. This story shows that you should always keep an open mind and not just blindly follow people for pollitical reasons.

Eternal Vigilance is the Price of freedom. We can thank Whittaker Chambers for a small piece of the freedom we enjoy today. His courageous stand in the face of public condemnation makes him a true American Hero.

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Summary: Powerful and still relevant
Review: WITNESS had been on my shelf for years, but after reading TREASON by Coulter, I finally started to read. I can now understand why some consider this the best book they have ever read. I found it relevant to and descriptive of our present time. Versions of "fellow-travelers" still abound. Those wanting to change America to something no longer described as the "land of the free" remain influential. The response to Mr. Chambers and his charges among the elite media and those in government and academia will sound very familiar to our time. .

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Summary: Essential reading for students of post-war American politics
Review: As a college student in the mid-70s who considered himself a socialist -- and who had teachers who also considered themselves socialists -- I was exposed to only one opinion of Whittaker Chambers.

Luckily for me, reality soon interfered with my socialist tendencies. Not so luckily, I never learned more about the Chambers-Hiss case until about a year ago, when I read "Whittaker Chambers" by Sam Tanenhaus. More recently I read "Witness" and was even more impressed by Chambers the man than when I read the Tanenhaus book.

The Chambers-Hiss case established the fault lines which still dominate American political discourse. The episode was also a precursor to the politics of personal destruction that continue to this day.

Any serious observer of postwar American politics and history should read this book.

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Summary: Good vs. Evil on the Battlefield of Political Ideology
Review: This book was very exciting to read! At some points, I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat! And the unmistakable message of the story is that there was (and is) a very real struggle for the human soul played out on the political battlefield - between Communism and Freedom, enslavement and Liberty, godlessness and Faith. The story demonstrates the depths to which Communism will go to further its goal of conquering the world and enslaving mankind. And it also demonstrates the ease with which "enlightened" intellectuals (esp. media and liberals) come to the aid of the Communist cause; and how quickly they scold and deride the common man who opposes Communism for being the incarnation of Evil on Earth. Of course in that respect, not much has changed since the writing of Witness in 1952. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan consistently reminded the liberal establishment (media, universities, etc.) that the "evil empire" would end up on the "ash heap of history" and how the "West won't contain Communism. It will transcend Communism. It will dismiss it as some bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written." And while Reagan was correct, "enlightened" intellectuals still try to justify their reasons for supporting the Communist cause and for opposing the "simple-minded" and "unenlightened" folk who fought against it. But history has vindicated Chambers, Reagan, and many others who had the God-given wisdom to understand the real battle as one between the forces of Good and the forces of Evil. There may no longer be a Soviet menace, but you can be sure that it is not the end of politically manifested Evil. All Patriots and lovers of Freedom need to read this book to understand the struggle of those who have preceded us so that we may have the strength, courage, and wisdom to follow in their footsteps if and when an Evil menace arises to threaten mankind anew.

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Summary: "WITNESS" BIRTHED MODERN CONSERVATIVISM By STEVEN TRAVERS
Review: "WITNESS" BY WHITTAKER CHAMBERS WAS ULTIMATE CAUTIONARY TALE,
GAVE BIRTH TO MODERN CONSERVATIVISM
By STEVEN TRAVERS

Modern conservatism began in 1938, when a Communist apparatchuk named Whittaker Chambers broke from Moscow, contacted Federal authorities, and informed them that a rising Democrat star named Alger Hiss was a Soviet spy.

It took a decade for Chambers' accusations to be made public. Chambers most likely would have faded into obscurity, but for a chain of events and a few patriots. FDR did not pay heed to the accusation that Communists had infiltrated his government, but Naval intelligence intercepted word that Joseph Stalin was planning a separate peace with Adolf Hitler. The Navy did not trust the Democrats. They devised the Venona project, intercepting Soviet cables, and discovered that Chambers was right about Hiss. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover refused to go public with Venona (not opened until the 1990s), because the on-going intercepts were too important to be exposed. But he told the right political people. The case went to HUAC, led by the young California Congressman, Richard Nixon. The Left excoriated Chambers. Hoover refused to shed light on Venona, letting the wheels of justice grind on their own terms. Hiss was proven right. Nixon became the first hero of conservatism. McCarthyism followed, and sides were taken.

(...)

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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.

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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: Whittaker Chambers is not a Conservative
Review: Whittaker Chambers may have left the Communist Party, but all he did was remake his collectivist delusions around something else. He is about as far away from Ron Reagan as you can get. If you read Chambers you might as well read Stalin because there isn't a lot of difference between their thinking.

Rating:
Summary: Eloquent and Piercing
Review: Rarely in literature does a novel impact its readers so deeply. In both prefaces, one written by George Will, 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.