Americanism, Catholicism, the Red Menace, the idiocy of the liberals—that is what "Stained Glass" is all about. It is a tract, in black and white, full of post hoc conclusions. One thing, though. The breezy, uninhibited mind of the author always comes through.

Only Mr. Buckley could gleefully get in passing cracks about Adlai Stevenson, Alger Hiss, Charlie Chaplin, The New York Times editorial page. Only Mr. Buckley could pause to talk about "Parsifal" and Bach. Only Mr. Buckley could interrupt the action to quote from the Complete Works of Whittaker Chambers. Only Mr. Buckley could so have duplicated President Truman's salty language….

How about "Stained Glass" as a story? Well, it's fun. Mr. Buckley can write. There is plenty of action, some wit at the expense of thinkers the author does not particularly admire, some high-level shenanigans out of the White House and the Kremlin, and...