Just to be self-referential, to refer to something I’ve published elsewhere, here is my review of the new biography of iconoclast commentator I.F. Stone. (No, not self-reverential.)
Reading other reviews is very interesting. Essentially all the majors come in already liking or hating Stone, and that colors their write-ups. At least one is a fan who was a protege and there is one by an enemy who also was a protege but then changed politically. You can’t guess where Christopher Hitchens would come down, but he likes the man and the book. The New Yorker’s had a couple of facts that must have come from some direct knowledge or other sources, as they disagreed with what I wrote, which came straight from the book — like what year Stone moved to Washington (link not readily available).
I say McPherson convinces me that Izzy Stone was politically influential. He was as influential as a relatively little-known journalist can be. He came up with scoops that then were followed up by top publications and broadcasters over a fairly long career. But did he end the Cold War or the Vietnam War, or cause either to end even a minute sooner?
Naw. -30-
