Today's edition of The Weekly Standard carries my review of the new book by A. Brad Schwartz, Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welles War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News. It's far and away the definitive history of Welles's infamous 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Schwartz's meticulous research has uncovered some surprises that challenge much of the received wisdom about the broadcast and the national "panic" it supposedly caused. To read the online version of my review, click on "When Earthlings Panic."
