Douglas Hyde (author)

Douglas Arnold Hyde (8 April 1911, Worthing, Sussex – 19 September 1996, Kingston upon Thames)^[1] was an English political journalist and writer. A communist, he was the news editor of the Daily Worker until 1948, when he converted to Catholicism and resigned.

Background

Hyde grew up in Bristol and was brought up as a Methodist. In his youth he was active in a number of political organisations which brought him into contact with communists. He became a Methodist lay preacher and continued this work for some time in parallel with membership of the Communist Party.^[2] He was an early convert to communism, at age 17 in 1928.

Career

After a period working in North Wales he moved to London in 1938 and became the news editor of the Daily Worker.^[3] After his resignation, he published an autobiography, I Believed. The Autobiography of a Former British Communist.^[4] He also wrote a book, Dedication and Leadership, about his experiences and the specific tactics of the communists especially in the way that they recruited their members and built them into leaders.^[5]

Hiss Case

On 8 November 1953, The Observer shared in its "Table Talk" column by Pendennis a short article called "Old Comrades," which claimed that Douglas Hyde had called on ex-communist Whittaker Chambers, chief witness in United States vs. Alger Hiss and reported that: "most of his farmlands had been sold off," "Chambers was not a MacCarthyite [sic]," and "he is convinced there are still party members in the Administration."^[6]

Works

• I Believed: The Autobiography of a Former British Communist, William Heinemann, London, Melbourne, Toronto, 1950. German translation Anders als ich glaubte, Herder, Freiburg, 1957 (=Herder-Bücherei, No. 1).
• The Answer to Communism, Paternoster Publications, London, 1949.
• Communism from the Inside, Catholic Truth Society, London, 1949.
• Communism and the Home, Catholic Truth Society, London, 1950.
• God's Bandit: The Story of Don Orione, "Father of the Poor", Peter Davies, London, 1952. Italian (1955), French (1956), German (1957) and Polish (1980) translations.
• Communism at Work, Catholic Truth Society, London, 1953.
• Red Star Versus the Cross: The Pattern of Persecution (with Francis Dufay), Paternoster Publications, London, 1954
• One Front across the World, William Heinemann, London. 1955; Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1956.
• The Mind behind New China, Phoenix House, London, 1956.
• Dedication and Leadership, University of Notre Dame Press, 1956. There is a 1992 edition.
• The Peaceful Assault: The Pattern of Subversion. A Background Book, The Bodley Head, London, 1963.
• The Roots of Guerilla Warfare. A Background Book, The Bodley Head, London, 1965.
• Confrontation in the East. A Background Book, The Bodley Head, London, 1965.
• The Troubled Continent: A New Look at Latin America, Pflaum Press, Dayton, Ohio, 1967.
• Communism Today, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1972; University of Notre Dame Press, 1973.

Footnotes