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The Redhunter: A Novel Based on the Life of Senator Joe McCarthy
Drawing on the author's own firsthand knowledge of the subject, a historical novel chronicles the life and times of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy and his crusade against Communism, offering a stunning portrait of the events and personalities of the Cold War world. 60,000 first printing. Tour.
422 pages, Hardcover
Published June 1, 1999
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About the author
William F. Buckley Jr.
183 books339 followersWilliam Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American author and conservative commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing style was famed for its erudition, wit, and use of uncommon words.
Buckley was "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century," according to George H. Nash, a historian of the modern American conservative movement. "For an entire generation he was the preeminent voice of American conservatism and its first great ecumenical figure." Buckley's primary intellectual achievement was to fuse traditional American political conservatism with economic libertarianism and anti-communism, laying the groundwork for the modern American conservatism of US Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and US President Ronald Reagan.
Buckley came on the public scene with his critical book God and Man at Yale (1951); among over fifty further books on writing, speaking, history, politics and sailing, were a series of novels featuring CIA agent Blackford Oakes. Buckley referred to himself "on and off" as either libertarian or conservative. He resided in New York City and Stamford, Connecticut, and often signed his name as "WFB." He was a practicing Catholic, regularly attending the traditional Latin Mass in Connecticut.
Buckley was "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century," according to George H. Nash, a historian of the modern American conservative movement. "For an entire generation he was the preeminent voice of American conservatism and its first great ecumenical figure." Buckley's primary intellectual achievement was to fuse traditional American political conservatism with economic libertarianism and anti-communism, laying the groundwork for the modern American conservatism of US Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and US President Ronald Reagan.
Buckley came on the public scene with his critical book God and Man at Yale (1951); among over fifty further books on writing, speaking, history, politics and sailing, were a series of novels featuring CIA agent Blackford Oakes. Buckley referred to himself "on and off" as either libertarian or conservative. He resided in New York City and Stamford, Connecticut, and often signed his name as "WFB." He was a practicing Catholic, regularly attending the traditional Latin Mass in Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 20, 2012
A well written and interesting book. There is a lot of well researched information in this historical fiction type look at McCarthy and all that went on around him.
No matter what you think of McCarthy there is one great irony to his story in that after his actions it was actually easier for any real "communist" threat to operate as no one dared to accuse anyone of communism after the hearings. They'd be accused of "McCarthyism".
This book while there are fictionalized parts to the story (dialogue and so on) is built on actual events and told by someone who remembers. McCarthy while he may have been correct in some of his assumptions and even his desire to warn against communist infiltration through what were called "front groups" (and he was born out to some extent by KGB files released after the fall of the old Soviet Union) he went about it all the wrong way. In attacking the civil rights of Americans and using the scatter-gun tactics that took down the innocent with the guilty in the end he brought down himself and as noted caused people to be very wary of "finding" communists.
This is an interesting book full of interesting personalities. Give it a shot.
No matter what you think of McCarthy there is one great irony to his story in that after his actions it was actually easier for any real "communist" threat to operate as no one dared to accuse anyone of communism after the hearings. They'd be accused of "McCarthyism".
This book while there are fictionalized parts to the story (dialogue and so on) is built on actual events and told by someone who remembers. McCarthy while he may have been correct in some of his assumptions and even his desire to warn against communist infiltration through what were called "front groups" (and he was born out to some extent by KGB files released after the fall of the old Soviet Union) he went about it all the wrong way. In attacking the civil rights of Americans and using the scatter-gun tactics that took down the innocent with the guilty in the end he brought down himself and as noted caused people to be very wary of "finding" communists.
This is an interesting book full of interesting personalities. Give it a shot.
February 5, 2011
To anyone who lived during the 1950s, Joseph McCarthy is a part of the decades, mostly as a villain, though he has gained a new fan base among some of the more provocative people on the right. He is seen as the personification of the Red Scare, even though as a Senator he had no official role in the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, nor was he considered a particularly right-wing Republican prior to his infamous speech in Wheeling, West Virginia (in fact he was a Democrat until 1944).
In his book, Buckley portrays McCarthy's humble beginnings and how he originally dropped out of school to be a rabbit farmer, and how he dropped back in after the farm failed, completing four years of High School in nine months. The story also goes on to talk about his accomplishments as a Judge, Marine, and as an early red hunter.
The biography shows McCarthy's humanity as a flawed figure, but also one with great intelligence who could have been a very legitimate anti-Communist rather than a demagogue relying on insubstantial claims. Buckley seems to attribute Roy Cohn as the key to McCarthy's failings and the low road he took, which led to his censure and fall from grace. While Buckley does not praise or honor McCarthy as Ann Coulter did, he does show McCarthy as a three-dimensional and tragic figure, which is important to do as it is so much easier to make him a one dimensional villain and bogeyman archetype for everything negative about the 1950s. The fact that he could have been a force for good shows how much of a tragedy his life was.
In his book, Buckley portrays McCarthy's humble beginnings and how he originally dropped out of school to be a rabbit farmer, and how he dropped back in after the farm failed, completing four years of High School in nine months. The story also goes on to talk about his accomplishments as a Judge, Marine, and as an early red hunter.
The biography shows McCarthy's humanity as a flawed figure, but also one with great intelligence who could have been a very legitimate anti-Communist rather than a demagogue relying on insubstantial claims. Buckley seems to attribute Roy Cohn as the key to McCarthy's failings and the low road he took, which led to his censure and fall from grace. While Buckley does not praise or honor McCarthy as Ann Coulter did, he does show McCarthy as a three-dimensional and tragic figure, which is important to do as it is so much easier to make him a one dimensional villain and bogeyman archetype for everything negative about the 1950s. The fact that he could have been a force for good shows how much of a tragedy his life was.
April 16, 2012
Disappointing... was a great book for the most part, but a few inappropriate sections ruin the rest of the book.
June 23, 2012
Not Buckley's best novel, nor his worst. But it is a vivid recasting of a period in American history the majority of those living in the United States have no memory of.
I was in elementary school at the time of the McCarthy-Army Hearings. I lived in a neighborhood in which we could walk to school and in which we could go home for lunch. (The school had no cafeteria; some kids who could not go home ate at a local drug-store's lunch counter.) For me the Hearings were a time of disruption. The ironing board was in the living room so Mom could do ironing and not miss the Hearings. And we never had a hot meal; so absorbed was Mom (and it seems every other mom) in what was going on.
Roy Cohn, David Schine, Joseph Welsh - these were names one heard all the time. Today, all are forgotten.
What the novel does very well is recreate the era, the popular paranoia that McCarthy (depending on one's point of view) created or plugged into, McCarthy's idealism, strong convictions, and self-assuredness - as well as those excesses, which led to his downfall, and his early demise at the age of 48.
I was in elementary school at the time of the McCarthy-Army Hearings. I lived in a neighborhood in which we could walk to school and in which we could go home for lunch. (The school had no cafeteria; some kids who could not go home ate at a local drug-store's lunch counter.) For me the Hearings were a time of disruption. The ironing board was in the living room so Mom could do ironing and not miss the Hearings. And we never had a hot meal; so absorbed was Mom (and it seems every other mom) in what was going on.
Roy Cohn, David Schine, Joseph Welsh - these were names one heard all the time. Today, all are forgotten.
What the novel does very well is recreate the era, the popular paranoia that McCarthy (depending on one's point of view) created or plugged into, McCarthy's idealism, strong convictions, and self-assuredness - as well as those excesses, which led to his downfall, and his early demise at the age of 48.
April 4, 2008
It's a novel. Some of the characters factual but I always wonder what is real what is fiction. It was pretty good read as far as entertainment value goes. Although McCarthy really was trying to help this country, he was demonized and in the end, almost deservedly so. Funny thing about dead people, though. The ones left to tell always seem to love 'em when they are gone.....as is seen in the comments made about the hated McCarthy from senators right after his passing.
December 17, 2008
I liked this novel because of its link with modern American history. It gave me a good understanding of how the conservative movement has changed since the 50s. I now know more about that than before. It was good to get glimpses of Whittaker Chambers in the novel that I assume were true to life, since WFB knew him well. There were some interesting twists and turns in the plot that kept the overall story of McCarthy from becoming boring. Certainly worth reading.
March 28, 2022
Follows typical pattern of Buckley novels, but with twist of historical fiction with benefit of Venona files and Soviet archives. The intrigue is a bit surface level and more didactic than illuminating. Breezy read and recommended for anyone not aware of the Venona files or whose view of McCarthy is only crystallized by the “have you no decency, sir” lamentation or the sensationalism of Edward Murrow.
July 21, 2025
A spectacular book. A balanced look at the life and times of Senator Joe McCarthy, the legendary anti-communist leader whose tactics helped uncover Soviet subversives in the US federal government and get them fired. The liberal narrative that he was a “fascist” is powerfully debunked, and his contributions to the cause of freedom are powerfully documented. And it’s a darn good yarn.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews