Is this based on the Venona Papers?
It was written well before the Venona papers were revealed. Chambers wrote it at the height of the Cold War. He was a communist who changed sides and wrote of his conversion. Part of the pathos of his book is that he wasn’t fully convinced that our side would win. He knew we were right but worried that socialism appealed to people’s sense of morality in a way that a liberty oriented philosophy simply could not, and therefore had the edge in winning followers.
[Is this based on the Venona Papers?]
I haven’t read the book. Weinstein acknowledges Venona and other post-Soviet evidence in this edition which is revised from his 1978 book. I think the main argument against Hiss is based on Hiss’ lack of credibility as opposed to the credibility of Chambers. And the whole collection of evidence from the Hiss-Chambers slander lawsuit then the Hiss perjury trial.