Epstein, Edward Jay. Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer.
New York: Random House, 1996. 418 pages.
The dust cover shows Edward Jay Epstein sitting at a table with reels
of tape in front of him. Like Nixon, Armand Hammer felt the need to secretly
chronicle his wheeling and dealing, much of it illegal. But he was rich, and
and spent plenty on public relations and self-aggrandizing philanthropy.
The obituaries in 1990 spoke of him as a crusader for peace and someone who
financed cancer research, even though enough information about Hammer's
thuggery was already on the record by then. No question about it, Hammer was
ruthless and deceptive. Those who knew lacked the guts to say so until after
Hammer's death (except for biographer Steve Weinberg).
Epstein's access to Hammer's tapes, some Soviet intelligence files, and
interviews with family and friends, make this biography fairly impressive.
The only criticism is that Epstein is still fighting the Cold War, and
concentrates too much on Hammer's role as an agent of influence for the
Soviets. There were other capitalists, such as Ford and the Rockefellers,
who were just as willing to cut deals with bad guys. Rather than concluding
that Hammer hoodwinked the West by helping the East, it makes more sense
to conclude that the stinking rich are always able transcend international
conflicts when it suits their interests. This ought to put a whole new
slant on Epstein's politics, but it doesn't.
ISBN 0-679-44802-0
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