Includes bibliographical references and index.

Accused of creating a bogus Red Scare and smearing countless innocent victims in a five-year reign of terror, Senator Joseph McCarthy is remembered as a demagogue, a bully, and a liar. A half century after his death, his name remains synonymous with witch hunts. But that image is wrong, as veteran journalist Evans maintains in this groundbreaking book, based on six years of intensive research. Drawing on primary sources--including U.S. government records and FBI files, as well as recent research from Soviet archives--Evans presents irrefutable evidence of a relentless Communist drive to penetrate our government, influence its policies, and steal its secrets. He also shows that U.S. officials supposedly guarding against this danger not only let it happen but actively covered it up--precisely as Joe McCarthy contended. This book claims to provide the first accurate account of what McCarthy did and, more broadly, what really happened to America during the Cold War.--From publisher description.