WHITTAKER CHAMBERS

With a strong and confident voice, Hilder masterfully handles this comprehensive biography of Chambers, an enigmatic figure known mostly because of his testimony regarding accused communist Alger Hiss. Read at an appropriate pace, the work provides a great look at this century because Chambers, like an intelligent Forrest Gump, is connected with many of its most important events and figures, from the rise of communism to the reemergence of conservatism after WWII. Recounting these events, Hilder never falters with the many foreign names, places and phrases. The high point, Hilder's reading of the Hiss trial, communicates the many suspenseful twists of the event. M.L.C. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 99]