On December 2, 1954, Joseph Raymond McCarthy—swept from his committe chairmanship by a Democratic resurgence in the fall elections—was censured by his colleagues for conduct "contrary to Senate traditions." This novel [Children of Power] is set in Washington in that same watershed December.

Here we meet Joe McCarthy once more, now stripped for us by an omniscient narrator. If you have ever wondered what McCarthy dreamed, this is the place to find out. If you would like to know what he admitted to the priest in the confessional, you can read it here….

Apart from being made to yield … voyeuristic amusements, McCarthy figures here as an issue. He is a childhood friend of Sam Taylor, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and is welcome as Taylor's house guest despite their opposition on matters of principle. The central conflict of the novel lies in an attempt to force Sam...