"Thomas Sakmyster has combed through an impressive range of sources, including Federal Bureau of Investigation files, Comintern records, Communist party publications, and, most importantly, previously unavailable Hungarian-language material, such as the records of the Béla Kun government and the unpublished memoirs of Pepper’s wife, Irén Czóbel, to produce a comprehensive study of Pepper’s life and career. Sakmyster portrays Pepper as a sincere Communist who could have achieved much as a member of capitalist society, but he also does not hesitate to reveal his ruthless ambition, obsessive need for praise, power-seeking behavior, love of the trappings of the good life, and compulsive womanizing."
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