This review just appeared at www. ReadersFavorite.com, by Jack Magnus:
“Like most Americans, I suspect, I had little more than a passing knowledge about the Red Scare and the impact McCarthy had on the political climate in this country. Most of us are familiar with the impact it had in Hollywood and the movie industry. Lists of blacklisted actors, directors, writers and composers can be easily found on the internet, but the actual stories of the people and communities impacted are rather more difficult to find, as evidenced by the author’s discussion of his forays into the microfiche sections of his library. Each chapter in this book is fascinating and helped me to gain insights into the mindsets of Vermonters during that time, and the motivations of those who sought to demonize their neighbors out of fear of the Communists. Winston’s book is filled with front pages of newspapers, photographs and archival documents that bring his topic to life. His presentation is flawless, and his writing provides a seamless transition from one chapter’s events to the next. I also found his presentation of the politics of the mid-twentieth century enlightening, especially in light of current events. Red Scare in the Green Mountains: The McCarthy Era in Vermont 1946-1960 is most highly recommended.”
“Red Scare in the Green Mountains” is an important story about how hate and fear preached by national figures impacts people living in small towns across America. To understand how a demagogue can lie, scapegoat and bully his way to power, it is enlightening to revisit how residents and leaders of the small state of Vermont both collaborated with and fiercely resisted the anti-communist witch hunts of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. This book is essential reading for those who want to ensure that we learn from the past, so that we don’t repeat it.
— David Goodman, author and host, The Vermont Conversation
“Rick Winston’s Red Scare in the Green Mountains is a fascinating exploration of the way McCarthyism and related right-wing fear-mongering played out in a state that is commonly thought of as uncommonly liberal. The reality, as Winston shows convincingly, is that intolerance, xenophobia and fear of ‘un-American’ ideas are ugly stains on the history of all America — even the state that produced Bernie Sanders.”
— Mark Potok, Expert on the radical right and former Senior Fellow of the Southern Poverty Law Center
“Gracefully written, full of wonderful, well-chosen details, Red Scare in the Green Mountains paints a vivid picture of a state torn between rock-ribbed conservatism and deep respect for civil liberties ‹ a state that produced its own Red-baiting demagogue but also resisted loyalty oaths and book censorship, and nurtured a young Bernie Sanders in his early activist days. Focusing on the witch hunt era in one state, with just enough national background to put the stories in context, Winston depicts the politics of demagoguery and resistance — a topic that couldn’t be more timely for all Americans today.”
— Marjorie Heins, author of Priests of Our Democracy: The Supreme Court, Academic Freedom, and the Anti-Communist Purge
“Well-written and thoroughly researched, Rick Winston’s Red Scare in the Green Mountains shines a penetrating light on and compellingly recreates the little-known story of how valiant Vermonters rallied to withstand the pressures and distortions of the McCarthy Era. Strikingly relevant for our own era.”
— Tony Hiss, author of The View from Alger’s Window
“Rick Winston’s book sheds a new light on a dark chapter in American history. We are introduced to leaders who deserve their place in history, such as Congressman William Meyer and professor Andrew Nuquist. His book paints a well-researched picture of Vermont in the McCarthy era”
— Madeleine Kunin, former Vermont governor, author of The New Feminist Agenda
“A fascinating and highly readable history that shines a light on how Vermont wrestled with one of the most important American political episodes of the 20th century. …reveals the remarkable intersections of Vermont and national politics as each influenced the other in the spiraling rise and precipitous fall of McCarthyism. …shatters the illusion of a bucolic state immune to the Red Scare and offers important lessons for our times.”
— Prof. Woden Teachout, author of Capture the Flag: A Political History of American Patriotism
“Rick Winston has written a highly informative book that expanded my knowledge of Vermont during the 1950s and during the McCarthy years. It is well-written and immediately drew me in. I recommend the book to all those interested in the Vermont experience, McCarthyism, or our efforts to protect our rights in challenging times.”
— Gregory Sanford, former Vermont State Archivist
“Red Scare in the Green Mountains is quite compelling and establishes the story, with its now barely known opponents, and supporters, of McCarthyism, as one to read today. For the nasty, life-tearing, reputation-ruining, anti-commie campaign of 70 years ago has many similarities to what we’re being swept along in with the Trump administration. As I’m sure some of Winston’s characters thought or said, This can’t happen here, it can. And will, if the momentum that the Republicans nationwide are now riding like power-drunk horsemen of the apocalypse is not brought to a halt.”
— Joe Sherman, author of Fast Lane on a Dirt Road
“Rick Winston’s inspiring text takes us back to the dark days of the downward turn of American politics toward repression and persecution, but also of extreme bravery of many of New England’s best, under terrible political pressure. Anyone interested in the effects of the McCarthy Era and its opponents will find an alarming but also moving saga here.”
— Paul Buhle, co-editor, Encyclopedia of the American Left, and author of Marxism in the United States