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David M. Oshinsky
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A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy

by David M. Oshinsky (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 68 ratings
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Acclaimed historian David Oshinsky's chronicling of the life of Senator Joe McCarthy has been called both "nuanced" and "masterful." In this new paperback edition Oshinsky presents us with a work heralded as the finest account available of Joe McCarthy's colorful career. With a storyteller's eye for the dramatic and presentation of fact, and insightful interpretation of human complexity, Oshinsky uncovers the layers of myth to show the true McCarthy. His book reveals the senator from his humble beginnings as a hardworking Irish farmer's son in Wisconsin to his glory days as the architect of America's Cold War crusade against domestic subversion; a man whose advice if heeded, some believe, might have halted the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia and beyond.
A Conspiracy So Immense reveals the internal and external forces that launched McCarthy on this political career, carried him to national prominence, and finally triggered his decline and fall. More than the life of an intensly- even pathologically- ambitious man however, this book is a fascinating portrait of America in the grip of Cold War fear, anger, suspician, and betrayal.
Complete with a new Foreword, A Conspiracy So Immense will continue to keep in the spotlight this historical figure-a man who worked so hard to prosecute "criminals" whose ideals work against that of his- for America.
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  1. ISBN-10
    019515424X
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0195154245
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    September 29, 2005
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    9.2 x 1.7 x 6 inches
  7. Print length
    624 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A staggeringly successful and rare new book of history...It is hard to tell in the space of this column why A Conspiracy So Immense impressed me so much. Of course, it has something to do with the excellent writing, which may set a standard for crisp, witty historical prose...It has something to do with the extraordinary thoroughness of Oshinsky's research. His footnotes are historical gold mines. [Above all] Oshinsky shows that in that evil time, even the purest of motives were soiled. He shows us what man is. That is what makes great history, which is what A Conspiracy So Immense is."--Ben Stein, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner

"[Oshinsky is] a great storyteller; he has done some terrific research, and best of all, he knows how to handle the drama of the era without getting too preachy."--The New York Times Book Review

"Oshinsky's elegant and comprehensive biographycan now lay its own claim to being the finest account available of Joe McCarthy's career."--Review in American History

"The objectivity and scholarship of A Conspiracy so Immense should make it a standard treatmenta vivid account of the Senator's progress from demagogue to grand inquisitor."--The New Leader

"Professor David Oshinsky's A Conspiracy So Immense is the finest book on the period I have read."--Patrick J. Buchanan

About the Author

David Oshinsky is George Littlefield Professor of American History at the University of Texas. His previous books include Worse than Slavery: Parchman farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow, which won the Robert Kennedy prize for its contribution to human rights, and Polio: An American Story (Oxford University Press).

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press (September 29, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 624 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 019515424X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195154245
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.92 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.2 x 1.7 x 6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 68 ratings

About the author

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David M. Oshinsky

David M. Oshinsky

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
68 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Adam B. Ritchie Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars Triller History
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2011
Verified Purchase
A wonderful book, I couldn't put it down. And for you fussy academics the scholarship is impeccable too. The precipitate of left v. right comments appearing with mine on this amazon site proves that McCarthy lives. "I want to bring him back," said the owner's son and heir apparent at a company I consult for. McCarthy's refusal to avert his senate censure assured that he would live on into our time as a fallen hero of the political right.

Robert Doti has a mild criticism that the author should have refreshed the text by treating Cohn's "sexuality" in the 2005 edition. Not so. The author reveals Cohn's homosexuality brilliantly by letting it come out in the letters to Senator Flanders and in Flanders' own belief that Cohn and Schine were lovers. So readers in the nineteen-eighties did not go wanting.

What moves me the most is Oshinsky's illumination of the same left-right dichotomy which exists today: the patrician, ivy-league left versus the gritty, academically undistinguished right, Stephen Breyer versus Harriet Myers, John Kerry versus Rick Perry. The reason why the Republicans will likely win in 2012 is that the reckless and cruel actors of the Bush years, their political and economic havoc notwithstanding, were replaced by a president with immense promise who proved to be academic and effete and worse yet by a return of Proust's Sodome et Gomorrhe or of Berg's Lulu as a normal way to live.
10 people found this helpful
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Sheila Dreckman
4.0 out of 5 stars An ego so immense
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2010
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I found this book hard to put down. It was well-written and brought across a real sense of McCarthy and his times. The author was as neutral as could be expected when dealing with the facts of McCarthy's actions. McCarthy's actions spoke for themselves, he was an arrogant man who thought he couldn't be stopped. He kept claiming that his responsibility was not to prove innocent or guilt, but to accuse. He had an end justifies the means attitude. The End was publicity for Joe McCarthy, and the means was accusing anyone and everyone of being a communist, even if he had to make up lies. What amazes me about this era was the idea that the Russians were so stupid they couldn't build the A-bomb without stealing our secrets, yet they were smart enough to infiltrate our government and take it over if we weren't diligent in rooting them out even at the expense of crushing innocent reputations.

There were a couple of problems with the book, mostly the author's intrusion. A few times, maybe three or four, he bragged how the information he had just cited had not been cited in any other biography of McCarthy. I felt this was unnecessary and bogged down the narrative. All biographers have to pick and choose. There never is room for everything. Also, several of the footnotes didn't make sense to me. I couldn't quite understand what he was getting at. Also, a couple of times he had minor facts that didn't seem right.

But, overall, I would definitely recommend the book.
11 people found this helpful
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SArmst2547
5.0 out of 5 stars ...from McCarthy, to power politics, Nixon and Trump...
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2021
Verified Purchase
The author does not write about Nixon and Trump, but the McCarthy story sets that stage for our understanding of the crumbling of the Republican Party over the subsequent seventy years.

My wife and I found this a very good historical piece, well researched and clearly presented. McCarthy's egoism and need for approval dominate his life, his actors' presence, and his subsequent rise to power based on sham accusations of the Red Menace in the Department of State and elsewhere in the government. The author captures the American frustration of not being able to turn inward after World War II, the fear of Soviet expansion, and the apex of print and rise of TV journalism.

Highly recommended history.
2 people found this helpful
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daniel kunsch
5.0 out of 5 stars A dangerous man who is still relevant to what is happening in politics today
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2015
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Joe McCarthy is one of the most dangerous politicians to have ever surfaced in modern American politics. In my opinion, the roots to our decision to engage in the Korean War and Vietnam War can be traced back to McCarthy's demagoguery over Democrats being "soft on Communism" and "losing China". Democrats spent decades running from these labels. Today, clever politicians are pummeling their enemies with this same diatribe, shifting it to "soft on terrorism." We should be seeking strong leaders, who are pragmatic and make decisions based on facts and analysis. But due to the success of McCarthy's attacks, foreign policy decision making still seems to be based on proving America is run by tough guys who are determined to show the world we enjoy a good fight. McCarthyism cost America a great deal in the past and is toxic to our future. We did not seem to learn anything from McCarthy's downfall. I see shadows of McCarthyism every time a politician explains the mess in Middle East.
3 people found this helpful
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retro
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and Revealing, as they say
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2013
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I had never understood much about Senator McCarthy and still don't, but Professor Oshinsky comes about as close to explaining the whole enigma as anyone could. A bit more psychological analysis might have helped, but the McCarthy lies, diversions, and evasions are so pervasive and so blatant that any such analysis would probably involve mostly speculation. Oshinsky sticks to the "facts," and it is likely that reading this book, after the passage of years, gives a clearer picture than that seen by most Americans at the time it was happening--or that seen by many of the principals, for that matter. This isn't to say the treatment of McCarthy isn't even-handed. His human side, revealed by his friends as well as others, does come through. Joe could be charming. So, apparently, could Charles Mansion and that guy that ruled Nazi Germany.
2 people found this helpful
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