During the Allies’ invasion of Italy during World War II, American soldier James Kutcher was hit by a German mortar shell and lost both of his legs.Returning home was given a job at the Veterans’ Administration, but in 1948, the hysteria over perceived Communist threats that marked the Cold War, the government fired Kutcher because of his membership in a small, left-wing group that had once espoused revolutionary sentiments. Goldstein’s book describes Kutcher’s eight-year legal odyssey to clear his name and assert his First Amendment rights.

Robert Goldstein is emeritus professor of political science at Oakland University, research associate U-M Center for Russian, E. European & Eurasian Studies.