The Web of Subversion

by James Burnham

This is the 1965 Americanist Library Edition.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

James Burnham was an American popular political theorist, best known for his influential work The Managerial Revolution, published in 1941. Burnham was a radical activist in the 1930s and an important factional leader of the American Trotskyist movement. In later years, as his thinking developed, he left Marxism and produced his seminal work The Managerial Revolution. He later turned to conservatism and served as a public intellectual of the conservative movement. He also wrote regularly for the conservative publication National Review on a variety of topics.


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Reviews

[Damien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book and I found it fun to read. The stories and details provided really help you out a picture together of the so-called Web of Subversion.
Even though it is about people no longer in government, and about Soviet Communists and their sympathizers, the patterns of the bureaucrats can be found in the structures of power today. Burnham presents their tactics for hiring and promoting each other, protecting each other, and pushing their agendas. I also found that it was interesting that some Communists, during the hearings, admitted things that others refused to. Either they were just being led by the Communists and not part of their underground cells or these people knew how to navigate the law more than the people who would just cite the Fifth Amendment on nearly every question.
I recommend this book for a fun and not so heavy read.