As a foreign correspondent, Bruce

Bacon had made his mark as a cou-

rageous, articulate, and professionally

respected reporter. As a human being,

he had gamed a far greater under-

standing of the moral dimension of

civilization and the fragility of human-

kind. l)uring his assignment to India,

when World War 11 was coming to an

end, he had followed up a variety of

leads concerning people of all political

persuasions, and as a result of his brief

contact with a member of the Commu-

nist Party, he found himself mysteri-

ously hustled back to the United States.

"Fhere he is plunged into the

McCarthy madness, stripped of his

career, abandoned by ti iends and col-

leagues, and raih oaded into jail by a

congressional committee. His one sal-

vation is the passionate and feisty Molly

Maguire, daughter of admirers of the

"Wobblies," who grew up in the thir-

ties, a woman who will stick with him

through hell or high water and whose

love and faith will sustain him in

his ordeal.

This book, like no other work of fic-

tion, brings to life a dramatic and

shameful period of American history.

No one is bcUer able to roll this story

than Howard Fast. He himself was a tar-

get of the McCarthy "witch hunt" and

served time in jail for refusing to reveal

the names of people who he believed

were being falsely accused.