Red Scare in the Green Mountains - by Rick Winston (Paperback)

About the Book

What happened in Vermont when the anti-Communist fear known as the "Red Scare" swept the country? Rick Winston explores some forgotten history as we see how Vermont handled the hysteria of the McCarthy era. A timely book in the Trump era.

Book Synopsis

IPPY Award for Best Regional History

Reader's Favorite Award

What happened in Vermont when the anti-Communist fear known as the "Red Scare" swept the country? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Rick Winston explores some forgotten history as we see how a small, rural "rock-ribbed Republican" state with a historically libertarian streak handled the hysteria of the time. Far from the klieg lights of Washington D.C., Hollywood, and New York City, the Green Mountain state challenged the national narrative with its own fascinating stories. Here are nine of the most gripping dramas played out in Vermont during "scoundrel time," including a high-profile academic firing, controversies involving left-leaning summer residents, courageous newspaper editors who spoke out against McCarthy's tactics, and a conservative senator who helped take down Joseph McCarthy. Now, as our country again experiences a political atmosphere charged with intolerance, condemnation, and widespread falsehoods, this book could not be more timely.

Review Quotes

"...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. Madeleine Kunin, former Vermont governor, author of The New Feminist Agenda

"...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 Patriotis

"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...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

"...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