An important and of course highly controversial document for the history of the United States in the 1930's and 1940's. Mr. Chambers' recollections, testimony and reflections concern three distinct subjects: his own biography and life in the Communist Party, the Hiss case, and his critique of modern society. In the author's mind these form a necessary unity; the reader may be less convinced by this impressive and tortured demonstration that the life of Mr. Chambers is a mirror to the crisis of our times.