It is not that I wish to peel the scabs of old wounds, but I must remind readers that America was subject to a burgeoning American Socialist Movement as far back as the 19th century, fed by its principal spokesman Daniel de Leon, who began to represent everything that was authoritarian and vindictive in Marxism. He was active in the Labour Movement and radical politics and was such a vigorous Marxist that Russian Communist leader Lenin admired his writings.

Let me begin with Joseph R[aymondl McCarthy. This American politician was elected to the US Senate from Wiscosin in 1946 and was Chairman of the Senate Permanent Investigating Committee. He conducted an investigation of Communism and Communist leanings in the government and that aroused huge controversy because of his sensational and irresponsible methods. He had used subversive tactics to accuse armed personnel of being subversives, and, following a series of hearings from 1953-54, he was formally censured by the Senate. This was a man who spread his anti-communist doctrine worldwide, and it made its mark in Sri Lanka as well, so much so that his Committee, the FBI, the American Embassy in Colombo as well as TWA Airlines suckered Sir John Kotelawala well and truly, as we see in this book under review.

It is not that I wish to peel the scabs of old wounds, but I must remind readers that America was subject to a burgeoning American Socialist Movement as far back as the 19th century, fed by its principal spokesman Daniel de Leon, who began to represent everything that was authoritarian and vindictive in Marxism. He was active in the Labour Movement and radical politics and was such a vigorous Marxist that Russian Communist leader Lenin admired his writings.

Again, there was Emma Goldman, a Lithuanian anarchist who married a Russian-born revolutionary, Alexander Berkman. She was branded "Red Emma," and deplored all governments; was jailed twice, once for inciting a riot and later for obstructing a draft. She was deported to Russia *in 1919.

One might say that McCarthy had this huge impulse to fight the "scourge" of Communism, but his name gave us the word "McCarthyism" - a word that is used to denote reckless demagoguery based on accusations without proof and on guilt by association. [my italics]. Of course, his defenders regarded him as an ardent patriot who was determined to save the nation's institutions from the threat of Communist subversion, but he was ultimately repudiated by President Eisenhower who said he was a man who "set himself over the law of our land".

McCarthy swept into national prominence with a 1950 speech in which he accused the State Department of harbouring 205 card-carrying Communists, and began his reckless anti-Communist campaign against the administration of President Truman. Among his victims was Rhoda Miller de Silva, for his insidious, anti-Communist message raised fears and fires in many parts of the world. This may be a hop., step and jump into Chapter Three of this book, but on 79 you will even wish to chuckle over what this was and how it all came about. Please read the delightful lines by Tom Paxton. It was published in the "Daily News" and called "Rambling Boy".

"Well it seems like the whole damn world's gone wrong. Saint Joe McCarthy is dead and gone

How do I know? I read it in the Daily News

Don't try to make me change my mind with facts, to hell with the graduated income tax

How do I know? I read it in the Daily News

Daily News, daily blues, pick up a copy any time you choose

Seven little pennies in the newsboy's hand

And you ride right along to never never, land

John Paul Getty is just plain folk, the UN Charter is a cruel hoax

How do I know? I read it in the Daily News

I Edgar Hoover is the man of the hour, all he needs is a little more power

How do I know? I read it in the Daily News

{ Of course, this is not the "Ceylon Dally News" Paxton was telling of but the American rag that as the saying went "kissed ass" tremendously].

Stepping back, we have author Judy Waters Pasqualge who tells us in her Preface:

"[I] will never forget the day when I saw [Rhoda Miller de Silva's] photo in the New York Times, associated with an article on her deportation from Sri Lanka in 1954... As I read the articles by Rhoda Miller, 116 of them, I was struck by the variety of contemporary political and economic issues covered, concerning the US, Europe and Sri Lanka ... and published in the premier Englishlanguage newspaper in Sri Lanka, the Ceylon Daily News... As I tried to trace the life of Rhoda Miller, it soon became apparent that there was some mystery about her, about her past, about who she was in 1954, and later ... it led me on a trip back in time ... across three continents - Rhoda's life weaving in and out of New York City and Sri Lanka, and back and forth to Poland and Russia.

"Many thanks are... due to Kumari Jayawardena ... and the Social Scientists' Association in Colombo, of which she is the secretary, and provided great solidarity in the book's publication... special thanks to Rasika Chandrasekera, Chandrika Withanapathirana, Quintus Fernando, Aruna Prasanna Enderage, Anil Jayalath, and Ajith de Silva; and to Ananda Wakkumbura. ... and also to Clifton Bocks who pointed out several sources; P. P. Devaraj ... Carlo Fonseka... and to Dan Hyman, N. R. de Silva, Suriya Wichremasighe and May Yee.

"... quite recently the FBI [Department of Justice] released documents in response to my Freedom of Information Act request of 2005. These documents from Rhoda Miller's file run from 1943 to 1960 ... Out of about 950 pages, some 325 were not released at all. On the pages sent, large portions had been 'whited out' including the names of most people [such as Rhoda's husband Joseph de Silva, other family members and all 'confidential informants']."

Now, as we will see, the mills begin to grind. Shall we begin at the beginning? Mind you, I give no guarantees because as a review, this cannot be some sort of slow-winding Mahaweli-like flow. The very cover of this book is intriguing. It is from a photograph that the New York Mirror had obtained from records of the FBI [File No, 100-208690]. The newspaper carried the story title under the photo: "Kidnapped in Ceylon by US, Woman Air Passenger says..."

What did she say? Oh, she said so much and wrote so much. As a writer, she dipped her pen in many castigatory inkwells and lashed out with a vigour that rocked the hastily - built foundations of many. In telling of the disgraceful Rosenberg trial of 1951, she said:

"The ethics and practice of law in present-day America are no longer subject to rules. Rather, they are the object of calculated and highhanded manipulation for the conviction of political prisoners."

When taken forcibly ["kidnapped"] to America, she was told by the Passport Office at the Department of State in Washington of "disapproval of passport facilities ... it has been alleged that you were a Communist ... [if you] 44 ... do not reply within 30 days... [whether you are or have been a Communist] "it will be assumed that you do not wish to have your case reconsidered at this time ... The department desires to emphasise ... that any information you may submit or which may be received from other sources... Will not be made known to the public ... The department reserves the right to disclose factual information ... concerning the reasons why [a person] was denied a passport ..."

This exchange was because Rhoda wished to leave Americas for London, where she would Join her husband, Joe de Silva who was already there. She had even booked passage on a ship leaving for Britain on 27 April 1955. She had to hit back, naturally. She told Frances Knight of the passport office that -

"[Your requirement to submit a statement regarding being a Communist is]..." as if there were an inherent connection between my right to travel, my right to join my husband or whether or not I am a Communist or a Rosecrutian - or a Republican." [you give me 30 days in which] "to decide whether or not I shall accept a permanent separation from my husband, a divorce by decree of the Passport Office..... I have no intention of relinquishing my right to travel or my right to a normal marriage ... I do not intend ... even to discuss with your office whether the allegation that 'you were a Communist' is true or false. The United States Constitution does not give your office the authority to pry into my views of affiliations, or lack of affiliations. If your office exercises such power, it is usurped power. Certainly the citizens of this country have not conferred such power upon you.

"When I insist upon my right to join my husband and re-establish our home together, I am not asking for a privilege ... I am asking for the recognition of a right...

"Is your department determined to pursue this violation instead of attempting to correct the wrong that has been done...

"The position of your Passport Office on my application is despotic and untenable on any grounds ... Omnipotence in decisions that affect human lives has no place in any office of a government based upon the United States Constitution...

" ... a frank admission of error in this case... would be welcomed ... by thousands of honourable Americans who have been outraged at the uncontrolled arrogation of power by the Passport Office."

She then filed a lawsuit against TWA. This was reported in the US National Guardian, April 4, 1955: "Mrs. De Silva Sues Airline. Charges it held her Captive." In her complaint, Rhoda submitted the following:

"TWA had entered into a plan and scheme ... the purpose of which was to forcibly separate plaintiff from her husband and to remove her beyond the borders of the island of Ceylon... In carrying out this plan and scheme, Rhoda was forcibly seized, She was not allowed to consult her husband or friends. She was forcibly taken into an airplane ... she was forcibly transported and during the trip, TWA held plaintiff incommunicado.... TWA refused to allow Rhoda to leave the plane and refused the provision of adequate clothing..."

TWA denied entering into any such plan. It stated that before the plane departed form Colombo -

"Sri Lankan government officials had provided a copy of the deportation order to TWA agents ... certain officials of the United States Embassy in Ceylon had directed TWA to retain the passport until the plane landed in New York..."

TWA's motion was denied. The airline paid $825 as an out-of-court settlement and the Times of Ceylon ran a one-page story under the headline "Rhoda. Miller wins her Suit." Newspapers that have not been identified also splashed the news, one under the title "Rhoda Miller Law Stands." In "Kidnap Charge" there was reference to TWA's plan to separate her from her husband and described the "brusque and heartless way the previous government had enforced her deportation order... she was accused of being active in the Communist Party movement in America. But the Communist Party is legal even in UNP Ceylon." The article noted that SWRD had given his assurance that both Rhoda and Joe were welcome to return to Sri Lanka at any time.

Shall we bring some order into this review? Who was Rhoda Miller? She was born in New York in 1910. A tremendous writer [NBC, The New York Woman, Conde Naste Publications, Time Inc. - Time, Life and Fortune -, chaired the New York Newspaper Guild]... Meanwhile, Joe de Silva went to Britain in 1937, worked with Handley Page Aircraft Co., the Indian United Press. In 1945, Rhoda met Joe in Britain, went to Poland, returned to Britain and married him. After a hectic spell, they came to Sri Lanka and settled in Kandy.

It is at this point that she became, to some, a dangerous person - and the newspapers were staggered at the volume of writing she produced. Today, the Department of National Archives has "Packet 5520" that contains a part of a collection of her writings. The Ceylon Daily News collection contains writings from 1954 to 1980, the last being her obituary notice of 21 June 1980.

The Ceylon Observer collection touched on major events in 1954. The Island had an article by Gamini Navaratne: "How Sir John Deported an American from Ceylon." The Times of Ceylon collection ran from 1954 to 1959, when Rhoda was given Ceylon Citizenship. Other local newspapers not identified by the Archives, cover events from 1954 to 1958 and with a story of how a local MP insisted that Rhoda be deported again!

This book is a massive work of inquiry and research. The author has drawn on everything that had, could have had, or would have had part of the Rhoda and Joe saga, and to go into every nuance would take this review into several more pages. I will spare you that since it all makes such an absorbing read that it is book that must be read slowly and sipped, yes, sipped.

Let me put my own oar in. We see the abject subservience paid to the US by the UNP. Sir John Kotelawala may not have been as ready to deport his egg hoppers. After all, what country would call them "subversives"? But he was quick to seize on the promptings of the Communist Pan)-, and send Rhoda packing. Why the local Communist Party? The fact is that such parties, to this day, are never prepared to go the whole hog. They prefer to remain comfortable, shoot off their mouths at intervals but not make too many waves. The first item on the agenda is to be politically recognized!

The press, on the other hand gave Rhoda much support. So did many other writers: G. V. S. de Silva, Hector Abhayawardhana, Ranjith Y. Amarasinghe, Rosanna Favero-Karunaratna, Newton Gunasinghe, Lakmali Gunawardena, Rajan Hoole, Kumari Jayawardena, Basil Perera, N. Samugathasan, Regi Siriwardena, Yasmin Gooneratne, to name a few.

This book has it all - and do please inflame your mind with so much I have left unsaid. Rhoda and Joe returned to Ceylon on the liner "Stratheden" on 15 August 195 8. Meeting them on board and on the qua) were Kusuma Gunawardena, MP for Kiriella and wife of Philip Gunawardena; M. Herat, MP for Dedigama; Kusuma's nephew Gamani Gunawardena, and Harry Gunawardena. With SWRD's landslide election victory in 1956, all the McCarthyism just wouldn't wash. Diplomatic relations were established with the Soviet Union and China and many other Communist states. This brought Marshall Tito and Chou en Lai to visit.

What is startling is the fact that the US Embassy in Colombo together with some brass in the CID did not cry quits. Confidential dispatches were sent to Washington and even politicos were influenced to call for Rhoda Miller to be thrown out of the country. In November 1958 a newspaper report stated that Mrs. Kusuma Rajaratne, MP, would ask the Prime Minister:

[a] Is he aware that one Rhoda Miller who was deported from Ceylon by the Government in mysterious circumstances for activities of espionage and subversive activities against the country has recently returned to Ceylon, and that she is employed in espionage against this country and against the Soviet Union and the Republic of China, which countries are on friendly terms with this country?

She was supported by S. D. Bandaranayake, MP, but it all became like "gahay kunu-kos" in the end. Even Mr. Pate of the CID told the US Embassy: "The whole damn place is cock-eyed!"

So Rhoda became a Ceylon Citizen in 1959 and the FBI removed her from its Security Index and closed her file. Yes, the Bandaranaike government stood up for Rhoda, cocked a snook at the US.

Carlo Fonseka has given us a very fine review on this book and he has told us of how he, too, had a nasty taste of McCarthyism when he was harassed by the US Embassy here because -there was information that he was a member of the Soviet-Lanka Friendship League". Do read this review as well. I cannot hold a pen to him, I know, but he and I could well ask: "What the hell does America think it is?"