The Secret Histories Hidden Truths That Challenged the Past and Changed the World

by Friedman, John S.

• ISBN13: 9780312425173
• ISBN10: 0312425171
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-01
• Publisher: Picador

Summary

Official histories have determined our view of the past. Governments and those in power have tried to preserve and reveal only information that serves their interests. Until now. The Secret Histories is a groundbreaking collection of the documents that have clarified history and altered the way we view politics and culture. From Edwin Black's investigation into the strategic alliance between IBM and the Nazi regime to I. F. Stone's classic study of the hidden history of the Korean War, from the 1952 Reader's Digest expose of tobacco's link to cancer and heart disease to Seymour Hersh's report on the My Lai massacre (as well his expose on the abuse in Abu Ghraib prison), this is the perfect anthology for those seeking to revisit--or discover for the first time--the stories that have shaped our understanding of the world. Edited by noted journalist and filmmaker John S. Friedman, as well as featuring an illuminating preface by bestselling author James Carroll (An American Requiem and Constantine's Sword), The Secret Histories is an invaluable resource guide and a genuine tool for further change. It is a must-have book for anyone yearning to expand their understanding of the past and the present.

Author Biography

John S. Friedman is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. He produced the Academy Award-winning documentary Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie, and directed the documentary Stealing the Fire, a history of the WMD-underground from the Holocaust to the present. He is a regular contributor to The Nation, among other publications. Friedman holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Foreword	xiii
James Carroll
Introduction	xvii
John S. Friedman
PART I World War Two: Code Breakers and Collaborators
F.W. Winterbotham's
The Ultra Secret	3	(12)
Edwin Black's
IBM and the Holocaust	15	(16)
PART II The Korean War
I. F. Stone's
The Hidden History of the Korean War	31	(20)
PART III Atomic Secrets
``The Venona Cables''	51	(100)
Eileen Welsome's
The Plutonium Experiment	60	(31)
PART IV Cold War Secrets
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn's
The Gulag Archipelago	91	(20)
Edward R. Murrow's
``A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy''	111	(13)
John Marks's
The Search for the ``Manchurian Candidate''	124	(27)
PART V Organized Crime, J. Edgar Hoover, and FBI Abuses
``The Kefauver Committee Report	151	(50)
Anthony Summers's
Official and Confidential	190	(11)
``Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Case Study''	201	(22)
``Cointelpro: The FBI's Covert Action Programs Against American Citizens''	223	(248)
Jon Wiener's
Gimme Some Truth	252	(41)
PART VI Hidden Sides of the Vietnam War
Morley Safer's
``Report on the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident''	293	(17)
Seymour M. Hersh's
``The Massacre at My Lai''	310	(17)
Neil Sheehan's
``Vietnam Archive'' from ``The Pentagon Papers''	327	(26)
PART VII Covert Intervention, Overt Neglect
James Risen's
``Secrets of History: The C.I.A. in Iran''	353	(15)
John Dinges's
The Condor Years	368	(31)
Peter Kornbluh's
The Pinochet File	399	(38)
Philip Gourevitch's
``The Genocide Fax''	437	(14)
PART VIII Health and the Environment
Roy Norr's
``Cancer by the Carton''	451	(5)
Greg Palast's
``A Well-Designed Disaster''	456	(15)
PART IX Abuses of Power
``The Nixon White House Tapes''	471	(56)
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's
``Watergate''	480	(23)
Greg Palast's
``Florida's Ethnic Cleansing of the Voter Rolls''	503	(9)
Seymour M. Hersh's
``Torture at Abu Ghraib''	512	(15)
Permissions	527