The Nightmare Decade: The Life and Times of Senator Joe McCarthy

A thorough, disturbing account of the man and the era. The first section gives biographical details about McCarthy, including his tarnished record as a supposed war hero and his zealous advocacy of some highly dubious causes. The author then spends more than 300 pages detailing the career of McCarthy the Red-Baiter, at times giving the reader the sensation of a descent into some nightmarish Wonderland -- very much the way the era felt to those still around to describe it. The final section describes the many ways McCarthy actually undermined the security of the United States: by intimidating people who were politically incorrect but insightful about our futile support of strongmen like Thieu and Chiang; by making our leaders afraid to act on their best judgment for fear of being accused of being too weak; and by inflaming all the worst sentiments of people so that a nation that was unchallenged from without began tearing itself apart from within. You will not sleep better after reading this book, but you will sleep wiser.

Cook's book The FBI Nobody Knew was the impetus for Rex Stout's The Doorbell Rang. This means that Cook knows valuable things about freedom and democracy. The author of the other review of this book worships Anne Coulter, and for her brain, no less! Nuff said.