Exoneration: The Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Morton Sobell—Prosecutorial Deceptions, Suborned Perjuries, Anti-Semitism, and Precedent for Today's Unconstitutional Trials

As cofounders of the National Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case, the authors led the failed fight to save Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. That experience translates into a sometimes compelling read about a controversial case that has largely faded from public consciousness. Even with recent revelations that—counter to the beliefs of the Rosenbergs' supporters—Julius did spy for Russia, the Almans manage to demonstrate convincingly that the couple was not killed for what Julius actually did but for an improperly added charge of treason. They paint a powerful picture of prosecutorial and judicial abuse, and describe the chilling atmosphere of government-inspired fear in the 1950s that prevented many decent people from speaking up. The wealth of their information is not always best served by its presentation, which veers between the polemical and the academic. Still, the account of how the news of the Rosenbergs' deaths reached thousands of supporters, after all avenues of appeal were exhausted, is a moving one.