THIS BOOK owes its start to stories told by my parents of meeting the mysterious American spy Noel Field during the Hungarian Revolution, when they became the only Western journalists to locate and interview Field and his wife, Herta, in exile. Many years later, my friend the historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. also spoke to me of meeting Noel Field during World War II. Schlesinger was immediately suspicious of Field’s loyalties and discouraged OSS chief “Wild Bill” Donovan from collaborating with the American.
I could not have written this account without the support of Alison, Hugh, and Alan Field, the children of Noel’s brother, Hermann. I thank them for their hospitality and for sharing their memories of their uncle Noel and their parents, Hermann and Kate Field. Thanks to them, I also gained access to the Field Family Papers, archived in Boston University’s Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.
Erica Wallach’s family—her children Robert Wallach Jr. and Madeleine Wallach de Heller, and her cousins by marriage Feroline Higginson and Hope Porter—all shared their own stories of this remarkable woman with me. They also allowed me access to Erica’s private papers, letters, and other invaluable materials never before available to researchers or historians. I am deeply grateful for their generosity in helping me to bring Erica Glaser Wallach and her astonishing journey to vivid life.
The legendary journalist Flora Lewis, a friend and colleague of my parents, interviewed many of the key figures in this narrative four decades ago. Many of those interviews are published here for the first time, as Ms. Lewis did not use a great many of them in Red Pawn, her account of the Field saga. I thank her son Lindsey Gruson for allowing me to use his mother’s archives.
Hungarian historian Dr. Ilona Kiss provided invaluable help in navigating both the Hungarian Secret Police Archives in Budapest and the KGB Archives in Moscow. Also in Budapest, my friend John Shattuck, Rector of Central European University, greatly facilitated my research with a fellowship at CEU’s Institute of Advanced Studies. Laszlo Kunos, my Hungarian publisher, introduced me to surviving colleagues of Noel Field’s at the New Hungarian Quarterly and Corvina Publishers.
I thank Marc Pressman, my resourceful Boston-based researcher, who helped me retrieve documents on the Fields from Boston University’s Howard Gotlieb Center. Hungarian historian and archivist Istvan Rev made helpful suggestions, for which I thank him. I must also acknowledge Maria Schmidt, who did early and important research on this subject. The book has also benefitted enormously from many hours of conversation with Lászlo Rajk Jr.
My assistant, Loryn Hatch, kept me and the project smoothly rolling; her patience with my many technical challenges was boundless. There is no fact she cannot unearth, no crisis that shakes her always-calm presence.
I am grateful to David Remnick for pointing me toward some important sources. I thank Nader Mousavizedeh for helping me find the right title. Cass Sunstein encouraged me to focus on the lasting impact Noel Field’s friend Alger Hiss has made on the ongoing American culture wars. My friend and much-admired writer Larissa MacFarquhar read and improved on an early draft, as did Richard Bernstein and Anne Nelson. Leon Wieseltier supplied insights on history and human behavior—Noel Field’s and other True Believers’. The book is vastly better for their generous contributions, even as they worked on their own books.
Anthony Marx, the president of the New York Public Library, provided the sanctuary of the Allen Room, which enabled me to access the Library’s unsurpassed collections and gave me a perfect place to work in the company of other writers.
Once again, my gifted editor Alice Mayhew shared my excitement for this project and kept me on the right track throughout. I cannot imagine this work without her guiding presence.
Amanda Urban, my indispensible friend and agent for this and seven prior books, is at the core of my writing life. I am forever in her debt for her unflagging editorial and personal support.
My family—Julia, Andrew, Mathieu, Sabine, Nicolas, Lilli, and, of course, my children Lizzie and Chris—cheered me on and provided love, laughter, and lively conversation. I deeply regret that my parents did not live to see this work—in which, once again, they played their part.