Few of the outrages of the McCarthy era were as politically and emotionally disturbing as the withdrawal of J. Robert Oppenheimer's security clearance. Though the nation's most eminent scientist, Oppenheimer was no match for the furies of the anticommunist witchhunt. By making the transcript of this hearing available again, Richard Polenberg gives us a direct entre into the supercharged atmosphere of the period, enabling us to understand how it could have produced such a devastating outcome.

This book is very valuable because it gives the full arguments of the Personnel Security Board and of the Atomic Energy Commission leading to their decision against Oppenheimer. It also gives the more important testimony during the Hearings. Professor Polenberg, in his introduction, shows how hopelessly the cards were stacked against Oppenheimer.

The Oppenheimer security clearance hearings serve as a stark reminder of the cold war state's abuses of power in its efforts to scrutinize the interior recesses of the human mind and spirit. In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Security Clearance conveys fully the drama of the case, the complex individuals involved, and the explosive combination of anti-communist ideology, nuclear fear, and old-fashioned personal resentment that led to Oppenheimer's downfall. It offers compelling reading to anyone interested in reckoning with the true meaning of loyalty amid the political pressures of the cold war and the nuclear age.

The Oppenheimer hearings were one of the great dramas of the Cold War at home. Their outcome still affects the relationship between scientists and the state. Richard Polenberg's skillfully edited transcript proves once again that history reads better than fiction.