Menace of Our Time: The Long War Against American Communism
Beginning at the turn of the century, and ending only with communism’s collapse, the US government and major elements in the wider society undertook an unrelenting effort to suppress and criminalize domestic communism. This book tracks those efforts; from the state laws of the twenties that imprisoned the fledgling communist leadership, the efforts by police and local authorities against communists as they fought for unions, racial equality, and the unemployed, the trials and imprisonment of communist leaders mid-century, the extra-legal efforts of the Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) in the sixties, and the ongoing, relentless attention by the FBI afterward. This is a long-overdue book about the most extensive, repressive effort ever undertaken by US authorities against a political organization that, however problematic, was largely operating within the scope of constitutionally mandated freedoms.
1146739895
Menace of Our Time: The Long War Against American Communism
Beginning at the turn of the century, and ending only with communism’s collapse, the US government and major elements in the wider society undertook an unrelenting effort to suppress and criminalize domestic communism. This book tracks those efforts; from the state laws of the twenties that imprisoned the fledgling communist leadership, the efforts by police and local authorities against communists as they fought for unions, racial equality, and the unemployed, the trials and imprisonment of communist leaders mid-century, the extra-legal efforts of the Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) in the sixties, and the ongoing, relentless attention by the FBI afterward. This is a long-overdue book about the most extensive, repressive effort ever undertaken by US authorities against a political organization that, however problematic, was largely operating within the scope of constitutionally mandated freedoms.
27.95 Pre Order
Menace of Our Time: The Long War Against American Communism

Menace of Our Time: The Long War Against American Communism

by Aaron J. Leonard
Menace of Our Time: The Long War Against American Communism

Menace of Our Time: The Long War Against American Communism

by Aaron J. Leonard

Hardcover

$27.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Available for Pre-Order. This item will be released on September 9, 2025

Related collections and offers


Overview

Beginning at the turn of the century, and ending only with communism’s collapse, the US government and major elements in the wider society undertook an unrelenting effort to suppress and criminalize domestic communism. This book tracks those efforts; from the state laws of the twenties that imprisoned the fledgling communist leadership, the efforts by police and local authorities against communists as they fought for unions, racial equality, and the unemployed, the trials and imprisonment of communist leaders mid-century, the extra-legal efforts of the Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) in the sixties, and the ongoing, relentless attention by the FBI afterward. This is a long-overdue book about the most extensive, repressive effort ever undertaken by US authorities against a political organization that, however problematic, was largely operating within the scope of constitutionally mandated freedoms.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781978841802
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Publication date: 09/09/2025
Pages: 244
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range: 16 - 18 Years

About the Author

AARON J. LEONARD is an author and historian. Among his books are Heavy Radicals: The FBI's Secret War on America's Maoists, The Folk Singers & the Bureau, and Meltdown Expected: Crisis, Disorder and Upheaval at the End of the 1970s (Rutgers University Press, 2024).

Table of Contents

Preface
Abbreviations
Note on the Text

Introduction

1 Opening Salvos (1901-1920) 

2 Underground and Above (1921-1927)

3 The Third Period (1928-1933)

4 Marginalized in the Mainstream (1934-1939)

5 To War (1939-1945)

6 Clampdown (1946-1947)

7 Decapitation and Violence (1948-1949)

8 Prison and Pursuit (1950-1953)

9 Disruption (1954-1963)

10 Hounded (1964-1970)

11 Final Conflicts (1971-1991)

Conclusion

Appendix 1. CPUSA Leaders Imprisoned

Appendix 2. FBI Files Referenced

Chronology
Acknowledgments
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews