CHARLIE CHAPLIN VS. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Film historian Scott Eyman's new biography of the legendary screen, director and producer Charlie Chaplin. Scott Eyman draws on newly available documents to cover this egregious treatment of a Hollywood icon caught up in a political witch-hunt. Chaplin, while spending most of his adult life in America, was British and never applied for U.S. citizenship.

Eyman recounts the story of Chaplin's self-imposed exile from the U.S. when his re-entry visa was revoked in 1952, ostensibly on moral grounds. But Eyman shows that it was actually revoked for political reasons. After 38 years making movies in Hollywood, he was labeled a Communist in 1952 by Sen. Joseph McCarthy and while traveling abroad in Europe, was not allowed to return home to back to the U.S. At first, Chaplin fought the decision, but in 1953, he surrendered his re-entry permit in Switzerland and lived there until his death in 1977. In 1972, Chaplin was permitted to come back home to receive an honorary Oscar and was given a hero's welcome.

Scott Eyman is the author or co-author of fifteen books, including the bestseller John Wayne and (with actor Robert Wagner) the bestsellers Pieces of My Heart and You Must Remember This. Among his other books are Hank and Jim: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart; Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille; Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer; and Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford. Eyman also writes book reviews for The Wall Street Journal, and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune