In the 1950s the Cold War gripped the world.
In the aftermath of the Second World War the United States and the Soviet Union were left as the two great superpowers, but they had profound economic and political differences.
Fearful of the influence that Marxist ideas might hold over US citizens J. Edgar Hoover, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, began to investigate any evidence of subversion, espionage and radicalization that emerged within the United States.
Yet, Hoover was well aware that he could not combat the forces of Communism alone, and so sought to educate the American people about how they might assist in this effort. Masters of Deceit: The Story Of Communism In America And How To Fight It is the result of this in which he explains the startling facts about what he believed to be the major menace of his time, communism: what it is, how it works, what its aims are, the real dangers it poses, and what loyal American citizens must know to protect their freedom.
Originally published on January 1, 1959, Masters Of Deceit: The Story Of Communism In America And How To Fight It is a firsthand account of American communism from its beginnings to the present, written by a man more intimately familiar with the complete story than any other American.
Mr. Hoover shows the day-to-day operations of the Communist Party, USA: who the communists are, what they claim, why people become communists and why some break away. He describes life within the Party, communist strategy and tactics, methods of mass agitation and underground infiltration, espionage, sabotage, and its treatment of minorities.
The forceful, driving message of this book is clarified with many incidents and anecdotes, definitions of communist terms, key dates, and a list of international communist organizations and publications which illustrate the communist Trojan horse in action.
Masters of Deceit is a fascinating book, written at the height of the Cold War that demonstrates the fears that gripped the United States and how some, such as Hoover, sought to combat the influence of Marxist ideas.
“the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation devotes most of his attention to the American Communist Party — its organization, goals, tactics, and how to fight it. Designed as a guide to the citizen.” Foreign Affairs
“a book which explains communism, what it is, how it operates, and what we need to know to combat it” Kirkus Reviews
“J. Edgar Hoover’s best-selling volume on communism.” The Yale Law Journal
J. Edgar Hoover was an American law enforcement administrator and the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. He remained Director of the FBI for 37 years until his death in 1972. Hoover has been credited with building the FBI into a larger crime-fighting agency than it was at its inception and with instituting a number of modernizations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories. His book Masters of Deceit was first published in 1958.
