Originally published: New York: Little, Brown, 1998.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

pt. 1. Antecedents -- ch. 1. "We were sitting ducks": the world of American communism -- ch. 2. "Red-baiters, Inc.": the development of an anticommunist network -- ch. 3. "In the interest of national security": anticommunism and the Roosevelt administration -- pt. 2. Representations -- ch. 4. "They are everywhere": the communist image -- ch. 5. "Great and total danger": the nature of the communist threat -- pt. 3. Instruments -- ch. 6. "Job for professionals": the FBI and anticommunism -- ch. 7. "In the gutter": the anticommunism of Joe McCarthy -- ch. 8. "Badge of infamy": anticommunist economic sanctions and political dismissals -- pt. 4. Interconnections -- ch. 9. "How red is a valley": Clinton Jencks and his union -- ch. 10. "Good deal of trauma": the impact of McCarthyism.

The McCarthy era of anti-Communist crusades is regarded by many as one of the most widespread episodes of political repression in the history of the United States. This book tells the story of that era, from a post-Cold War perspective.