A historian whose break with communism led to conservative anti-communism
Declassified Moscow archives prompted a new examination of the Soviet role in the Spanish Civil War.
Ronald Radosh is an American historian and writer who grew up in a Communist family and passed through the Communist Party USA and the New Left. Reexamining the Rosenberg case led him to revise his earlier belief in their innocence and consolidated his turn toward anti-communist conservatism. With Mary Habeck and Grigory Sevostianov, he edited Spain Betrayed, using Moscow archives to present a critical interpretation of Soviet policy and Comintern influence in the Spanish Civil War.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1937Born in New York City
- 1950년대Grew up and became active around the Communist Party USA
- 1960년대Participated in anti-Vietnam War activism and the New Left
- 1970년대Researched and wrote on modern American history and conservatism
- 1983Co-authored The Rosenberg File
- 2001Co-edited Spain Betrayed, analyzing Soviet policy in the Spanish Civil War
- 2000년대Worked as a researcher and writer at the Hudson Institute
Related historical events
Leaving the Communist movement and reassessing the Rosenberg case
Radosh recalled joining the Communist Party USA as a full member in 1956 and later participating in a succession of Old Left and New Left organizations and anti-Vietnam War activism. By middle age, he said, he was questioning his political commitments and coming to recognize Stalinism. In The Rosenberg File (1983), co-authored with Joyce Milton, he argued that Julius Rosenberg was guilty and that Ethel Rosenberg was likely implicated. The research marked a reversal of his childhood defense of the Rosenbergs and, in his account, helped bring his break with left-wing politics. The book's argument and political implications were contested. In his 2001 memoir, Commies, he recounted his experiences across the Old Left and New Left.