New Histories of the Old Left

Abstract The United States Communist Party ( cp -USA) is a subject rooted in an ample storehouse of research; one chock-full of many confirmable facts amassed by several cohorts of competent academics. At the same time, three new histories demonstrate that polarizing divergencies in perspective and evaluation have never been quelled and continue to emerge. Maurice Isserman’s Reds: The Tragedy of American Communism is a substantially sobering work because the problems in cp -USA history it aspires to tackle are disturbingly real. The other two books, by Robert Cherny and Denise Lynn, are more upbeat, depicting a movement full of charismatic activists who express a resolute political commitment and a willingness to devote themselves to admirable causes. Nevertheless, what stands out after a close, comparative reading of all three volumes is how each historian can curate the archive according to his or her individualized needs; all three smooth contradictions, diminish some aspects and valorize others, and implicitly assign a politically motivated cognitive frame to structure the reader’s perception.