Ghosts on the Roof

Whittaker Chambers is one of the most controversial figures in modern American history a former Communist spy who left the party, testified against Alger Hiss before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and wrote a classic autobiography, Witness. Dismissed by some as a crank, reviled by others as a traitor, Chambers still looms as a Dostoevskian figure over three decades after his death in 1961. A man of profound pessimism, rare vision, and remarkable literary talents, his continuing importance was attested to when Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded him the Medal of Freedom in 1984.

Ghosts on the Roof, originally published in 1989, brings together more than fifty short stories, essays, articles, and reviews that originally appeared in Time, Life, National Review, Commonweal, The American Mercury, and the New Masses. Included are essays on Karl Marx, Reinhold Niebuhr, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, George Santayana, Dame Rebecca West, Ayn Rand, and Greta Garbo. These show Chambers at his best, as a peerless historian of ideas.

Whittaker Chambers is one of the most controversial figures in modern American history - a former Communist spy who left the party, testified against Alger Hiss before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and wrote a classic autobiography, Witness. Dismissed by some as a crank, reviled by others as a traitor, Chambers still looms as a Dostoevskian figure over three decades after his death in 1961. Ghosts on the Roof, originally published in 1989, brings together more than fifty short stories, essays, articles, and reviews that originally appeared in Time, Life, National Review, Commonweal, The American Mercury, and the New Masses.

Booknews

The selected essays, articles, reviews, and short stories originally published in Time, Life, National Review and other magazines between 1931 and 1959 written by Chambers, the former Communist spy who testified against Alger Hiss and wrote the classic autobiography Witness. The contents are divided into five parts, tracing the evolution of Chambers' thoughts as a member of the revolution and a historian of Western culture. The collected essays were originally published in 1989 by Regnery Gateway. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Terry Teachout is a member of the editorial board of the New York Daily News. His writing appears in The American Scholar, Commentary, High Fidelity, Musical America, National Review, The New Criterion, The New Dance Review, and The Wall Street Journal. Milton Hindus was professor emeritus at Brandeis University. He is a widely heralded author in his own right; and general editor of the Library of Conservative Thought series for Transaction.