The United States government has sent spies all over the world to watch and survey but, have you ever wondered if the government and the FBI ever launched domestic spying campaigns? In this blog Matthew Guariglia, a senior history major at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA will explore the Second Red Scare and the thirty or so years that the FBI followed, eavesdropped, and intimidated, subversives and counter-culturalists in order to uncover Soviet spies imbedded in the U.S. system. Using a year of research this blog will attempt to answer the hard-hitting questions relating to the who, what, and why of FBI surveillance in the mid 20th century.

One of the catalysts for this blog was the recent publication of Tim Weiner’s book Enemies: A History of the FBI. Its immediate popularity allowed me a great and relevant window through which I could funnel my research. The book, which was published in early 2012, provides one of the first and most in depth look at the FBI not as a crime fighting institution but as an intelligence agency. I highly recommend the book for anyone looking for an exciting and well-written piece of non-fiction.

Banner Photos:

http://www.old-picture.com/american-history-1900-1930s/pictures/Listening-Recording-Device.jpg

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/apr/01/leonardo-dicaprio-j-edgar-hoover

http://www.shmoop.com/mccarthyism-red-scare/summary.html