Rick Winston ‘Red Scare in the Green Mountains: The McCarthy Era in Vermont 1946-1960

Vermont Author Rick Winston discusses ‘Red Scare in the Green Mountains: The McCarthy Era in Vermont 1946-1960’ at Everyone’s Books at 6pm on Friday, Sept 21.

‘ 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. ‘

“…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 Patriots’

“…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’

For more information call Everyone’s Books at 802-254-8160 or email us everyonesbks@gmail.com.