A new book on the Alger Hiss
case inevitably raises the question of
“why” among those familiar with the case, and there are valid reasons
for that response. For one thing, all the protagonists are residents of various
cemeteries or urns and have been so for quite some time; for another, settled
opinions on the matter are unlikely to be changed at this point. Even for those
who use the case as a litmus test of sorts have to be bored by the whole thing.
What drew me to Alger Hiss: Why He Chose Treason
was not a rehash of the question of Alger Hiss’s guilt but the more intriguing
and still open question of why Hiss so vigorously maintained his innocence.
Post self-professed liberal Susan Jacoby’s book “Alger Hiss and the Battle for
History” declaring that today almost no one on the left believes Hiss was
innocent it was probably inevitable that someone of a more conservative
persuasion would weigh in on the topic. Christina Shelton has stepped into the
fray and her book is surprising on many fronts.
Shelton, a former Soviet
analyst, has a distinctly anti-communist nearly neo-con point of view. (She
doesn’t claim to be unbiased and that works for me just as it did for Jacoby’s
book.) The first surprise is that Shelton actually met Hiss and found him to be
pleasant company. The second is that Shelton goes to greater lengths that even
the most pro-Hiss books to present a him as a caring, three dimensional human
being. For the first time in reading nearly two dozen books on the case I got a
sense of a man who could inspire such devotion and loyalty. I also encountered
someone whose concern for his fellow man could make the hope presented by
socialism/communism appealing.
A less pleasing surprise are
Shelton’s blanket statements about the “failure” of socialism and the refusal
of American universities to admit that communism wasn’t such a great idea in
practice. I studied political science at a liberal arts college in New England
in the 1980s and my well-known professors never pretended that the Soviet Union
was anything other than a repressive mess. I wouldn’t argue that communism was
thriving but there’s a world of difference between a Social Democrat in Sweden
and Leonid Breshnev. Shelton is on firmer ground laying out the similarities
between Stalinism and Fascism, but while demolishing a retrospective claim that
Hiss was doing good by supporting Stalin against Hitler this isn’t hugely
additive.
Shelton does an admirable
job of assembling all the evidence against Hiss. It isn’t thrilling reading but
it is comprehensive. In it’s totality it is compelling. Also compelling is
Shelton’s thesis that Hiss maintained his claim to innocence because it was
more useful to the cause of communism than an open embrace of his beliefs.
Shelton’s version of Hiss is much more appealing (and human) than the
dissembler (he’s a master spy!) of Allen Weinstein’s Perjury or the
serial-deceiver (he just plain likes to lie!) of Edward White’s Looking Glass
Wars or the cold-fish (he’s a jerk!) – all worthy, readable books that have
their place.
Taken as a whole Shelton’s
book makes a contribution but it’s not for everyone. I got the feeling that
she’d like those who supported Hiss for decades to admit they were had but
that’s not likely to happen and, for me, it’s beside the point. Recommended for
anyone very interested in the Hiss case but not as the first book on the
subject.
