More than any other single event, Richard Nixon’s dogged pursuit of Alger Hiss made the young congressman from California a national figure. Nixon’s methods and motives in the explosive confrontation between Hiss, the alleged Soviet agent, and his accuser, Whittaker Chambers, foreshadowed Nixon’s actions throughout his career.

Dr. Fawn M. Brodie, who died on January 10 of this year, spent the last seven years of her life working on a study of Nixon—and how he got to be the kind of man he proved to be. Richard Nixon: The Shaping of His Character, finished only a few weeks before her death, will be published by W. W. Norton in September. This fascinating psychohistory is based not only on the standard sources—including the Watergate tapes—but also on interviews Dr. Brodie conducted with people who knew the ex-President. The controversy this book is sure to arouse will serve as a fitting climax to Dr. Brodie’s controversial career.

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