Einstein file

J. Edgar Hoover's secret war

The Einstein File opens with a request from the INS to J. Edgar Hoover in 1950: 'Please furnish a report as to the nature of any derogatory information contained in any file your Bureau may have on the following person.' The person in question was Albert Einstein, and the request intensified a vigorous top-secret campaign to discredit the famous scientist, a campaign that would continue unabated until his death in 1955.

Historical details

The Einstein File is both a gripping tale of espionage and a significant addition to our portrait of the twentieth century's greatest thinker. Science journalist Fred Jerome deftly weaves information from Albert Einstein's 1.5000-plus-page FBI file with historical details of the period, creating a spy-story-like narrative that provides the first detailed portrait of Einstein's political beliefs. A pacifist, Zionist, socialist, and outspoken critic of racism, Albert Einstein used his considerable public renown to ridicule the McCarthy hearings publicly and discourage witnesses from testifying at them.

Fred Jerome

Fred Jerome is a Senior Consultant for Gene Media Forum, Newhouse School of Communications. Syracuse University. His articles and op-ed pieces have appeared in the New York Times and Newsweek. Fred Jerome lives in New York City.

Secret war against the famous scientist

Einstein file: J. Edgar Hoover's secret war against the world's most famous scientist by Fred Jerome
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2002
ISBN: 0312288565

More information

Einstein: The life and times
Albert Einstein: A Biography
Einstein in Berlin