Witch Hunt by Andrea Balis and Elizabeth Levy
Nonfiction.
This book takes place right after World War II and the start of the Cold War. I didn’t realize how much was going on during this time. I do love history, I guess I just never paid enough attention to the timelines. I thought many of these things were spread out much more. There were some things I didn’t know a lot about in general. I had heard of Joe McCarthy, but I didn’t know a lot about him. He was…interesting. I also liked learning that people haven’t changed all that much. Hearing about Americans being glued to their TVs and radios to watch and listen to the Army-McCarthy hearings is very similar to people today tuning in to political and court hearings. I also found it funny that Americans were surprised to see that Congressional procedures were not as dignified as they might have assumed. “It was a carnival. A sprawling, brawling travesty. – Collier’s Magazine” (pg. 159). Again, many Americans today watching the news seem surprised at how many of our politicians behave.
Even though I do love history, this book was a little hard to follow. There were lots of quotes from different people and then “Fly on the Wall” sections to give a little more context or explanations. I found it sort of hard to follow along with all the different quotes. I think I would have liked this more if it were more of a narrative nonfiction format.
This might be a good introduction to then move on to narrative nonfiction on the same topic. I’m not sure. I will have to find another book to see if I understand the subject better! Any suggestions?
Three Out of Five Magical Coffee Cups
Literary Coffee 