num_pages: 302
description: In 1953 the U.S. Air Force attempted to discharge a young lieutenant because his father may have read a communist magazine and his sister was a left-wing radical. They bit off more than they could chew. The producer of Edward R. Murrow's famous television show said Murrow was looking for a way to dramatize the excesses of McCarthyism. For him, the Radulovich case was made to order. Author Mike Ranville's book follows the entire case day by day, and the rip tide that ensued. He looked up Milo and interviewed him and his family at length. He researched the hearing and talked to as many of the participants as he could find. And he spent hours discussing the resulting television show with producer Fred W. Friendly. Heroes and villains turn up on every page, and the first day of Lt. Radulovich's ordeal is as suspenseful as the last.  The title of the book comes from a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "When you strike at a king, you must kill him." It is said Murrow kept this quote in mind as he prepared his attack against that formidable witch hunter, Senator Joseph McCarthy. Ranville's book describes in detail how the battle unfolded.
language: English
title: To Strike at a King: The Turning Point in the McCarthy Witch-Hunt
titlecomplete: To Strike at a King: The Turning Point in the McCarthy Witch-Hunt
ratings_count: 12
publisher: Momentum Books LLC