Jerry M. (jamblazer) reviewed The Brother: The Untold Story of Atomic Spy David Greenglass and How He Sent His Sister, Ethel Rosenberg, to the Electric Chair on + 20 more book reviews
Not a spy thriller, but instead a story put together 50 years later about the circumstances surrounding the trial and execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenburg.
The facts indicate the importance of the "atomic secrets" passed along by Julius in 1945 to the Russians was minimal compared to that of other spies. But the case got caught up the "communist scare" in the 1950's when the FBI was finally able to decode Russian telegrams 5 years later, and J. Edgar Hoover and even Presidents Truman and Eisenhower thought an example needed to be made of the seriousness of giving secrets to the Russians! The case against Ethel was very flimsy, but since neither she nor Julius would confess, they paid the ultimate price.
The facts indicate the importance of the "atomic secrets" passed along by Julius in 1945 to the Russians was minimal compared to that of other spies. But the case got caught up the "communist scare" in the 1950's when the FBI was finally able to decode Russian telegrams 5 years later, and J. Edgar Hoover and even Presidents Truman and Eisenhower thought an example needed to be made of the seriousness of giving secrets to the Russians! The case against Ethel was very flimsy, but since neither she nor Julius would confess, they paid the ultimate price.
