Secret city : the hidden history of gay Washington / James Kirchick.
Record details
- ISBN: 1627792325
- ISBN: 9781627792325
- ISBN: 9781627792325
- ISBN: 1627792325
- Physical Description: 448 p. ;
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2022.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Summary, etc.: | "For decades, the specter of homosexuality haunted Washington. The mere suggestion that a person might be gay destroyed reputations, ended careers, and ruined lives. At the height of the Cold War, fear of homosexuality became intertwined with the growing threat of international communism, leading to a purge of gay men and lesbians from the federal government. In the fevered atmosphere of political Washington, the secret "too loathsome to mention" paradoxically held enormous, terrifying power. Utilizing thousands of pages of declassified documents, interviews with over one hundred people, and material unearthed from presidential libraries and archives around the country, Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington, from FDR through Clinton is a chronicle of American politics like no other. Beginning with the tragic story of Sumner Welles, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's brilliant diplomatic advisor and the man at the center of "the greatest national scandal since the existence of the United States," award-winning journalist and author James Kirchick illuminates how the idea of homosexuality shaped each successive presidential administration, impacting everything from the creation of America's earliest civilian intelligence agency to the rise and fall of McCarthyism, the struggle for African American civil rights, and the conservative movement. Celebrating the men and women who courageously decided that the source of their private shame could instead be galvanized for public pride, Kirchick offers a reinterpretation of American history told from the perspective of the citizens who lived in its shadows. Sweeping in scope and intimate in detail, Secret City will forever transform our understanding of American history"-- Provided by publisher. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Homophobia > Washington (D.C.) > History > 20th century. Heterosexism > Washington (D.C.) > History > 20th century. Gays > Washington (D.C.) > History > 20th century. |
Available copies
- 9 of 9 copies available at Bibliomation.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 9 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brookfield Library | 306.766/KIRCHICK (Text) | 34029150052644 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
David M. Hunt Library - Falls Village | 306.766 Kir (Text) | 33180148091599 | Adult New Nonfiction | Available | - |
Derby Neck Library | 306.76 KIR (Text)
Digital Bookplate/Donation note:
DEI
|
34046152827476 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Edith Wheeler Memorial Library - Monroe | 306.766 KIRCHICK (Text) | 34026152455999 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Milford Public Library | 306.766 K (Text) | 34013150740119 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Oliver Wolcott Library - Litchfield | 306.766 KIR (Text) | 36123150267753 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Ridgefield Library | 306.766 KIR (Text) | 34010154154784 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Silas Bronson Library - Waterbury | 306.766 KIR (Text) | 34005151107447 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Woodbury Public Library | 306.7660 KIRCHICK (Text) | 34018153410768 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Secret City : The Hidden History of Gay Washington
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Summary
Secret City : The Hidden History of Gay Washington
The New York Times Bestseller A New York Times Notable Book of 2022 Named one of Vanity Fair 's "Best Books of 2022 " "Not since Robert Caro's Years of Lyndon Johnson have I been so riveted by a work of history. Secret City is not gay history. It is American history." -- George Stephanopoulos Washington, D.C., has always been a city of secrets. Few have been more dramatic than the ones revealed in James Kirchick's Secret City . For decades, the specter of homosexuality haunted Washington. The mere suggestion that a person might be gay destroyed reputations, ended careers, and ruined lives. At the height of the Cold War, fear of homosexuality became intertwined with the growing threat of international communism, leading to a purge of gay men and lesbians from the federal government. In the fevered atmosphere of political Washington, the secret "too loathsome to mention" held enormous, terrifying power. Utilizing thousands of pages of declassified documents, interviews with over one hundred people, and material unearthed from presidential libraries and archives around the country, Secret City is a chronicle of American politics like no other. Beginning with the tragic story of Sumner Welles, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's brilliant diplomatic advisor and the man at the center of "the greatest national scandal since the existence of the United States," James Kirchick illuminates how homosexuality shaped each successive presidential administration through the end of the twentieth century. Cultural and political anxiety over gay people sparked a decades-long witch hunt, impacting everything from the rivalry between the CIA and the FBI to the ascent of Joseph McCarthy, the struggle for Black civil rights, and the rise of the conservative movement. Among other revelations, Kirchick tells of the World War II-era gay spymaster who pioneered seduction as a tool of American espionage, the devoted aide whom Lyndon Johnson treated as a son yet abandoned once his homosexuality was discovered, and how allegations of a "homosexual ring" controlling Ronald Reagan nearly derailed his 1980 election victory. Magisterial in scope and intimate in detail, Secret City will forever transform our understanding of American history.