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the cia-funded secret western book distribution program behind the iron curtain the cia-funded secret western book distribution program behind the iron curtain alfred a. reisch alfred a. reisch This study reveals the hidden story of the secret book distribution program to Eastern Europe financed by the CIA during the Cold War. At its height between 1957 and 1970, the book program was one of the least known but one of the most effective methods of penetrating the Iron Curtain. It reached thousands of intellectuals and professionals in the Soviet Bloc, acquainting them with analyses of Western economies, trade unionism, social science, human rights, modern capitalism, Western socialism etc. Reisch conducted thorough research on the key personalities involved in the program, especially the two key figures: S. S. Walker, who initiated the idea of a “mailing project,” and G. C. Minden, who developed it into one of the most effective political and psychological tools of the Cold War. The book includes chapters on the vagaries of censorship and interception of books by communist authorities based on personal letters and accounts from recipients of Western material . It stands as a testimony in honor of the handful of imaginative, and determined individuals who helped to free half of Europe from mental bondage, and planted many of the seeds that germinated when communism collapsed and the Soviet bloc disintegrated. about the author Alfred A. Reisch is a political scientist, specializing in international relations, diplomatic and Cold War history, foreign, military, national security, and minority affairs. After earning an M.A. at the University of Geneva in Switzerland , and a Ph.D. in Political Science at Columbia University in New York in 1970, Dr. Reisch taught at Manhattan College in New York and at the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University in Washington. From 1977 to 1981, he was Associate Professor and Course Director for Western Europe/NATO and Eastern Europe/Warsaw Pact at the US Intelligence College in Washington, D.C. From 1982 to 1995, he was Head of the Hungarian Research and Evaluation Section of Radio Free Europe in Munich and authored over 100 analytical studies on Hungary and Central Europe . Since his return to Hungary in 1995, he has been a member of the Hungarian Atlantic Council and of the Hungarian Foreign Policy Association. From 2002 to 2010, he was Professor of International Relations and Diplomatic History at the University of Economics of Izmir, Turkey. From 1983 to this day, he has been a regular guest lecturer at the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany. By opening minds, the imaginative book program helped to break down the walls behind which the communist regimes were entrenched. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Former U.S. National Security Advisor That over ten million books and periodicals were successfully mailed to East European countries as an important part of the West’s psychological warfare against Communist ideology is a Cold War operation very little known. Thousands upon thousands of educated East Europeans, among them members of my family and friends, had their views fundamentally changed by the arrival of forward-looking literary, cultural, and scientific products. The Secret Book Distribution Program powerfully contributed to the peaceful transformation of Eastern Europe in and after 1989. István Deák, Emeritus Professor of History, Columbia University A well-documented pioneering analysis of the “book program” that complemented Western broadcasts and provided Western literature to East Europeans and Russians during the Cold War. Highly recommended for anyone interested in U.S. Cold War foreign policy. A. Ross Johnson, Woodrow Wilson Center The secret book distribution program to Eastern Europe funded by the CIA during the Cold War gave hope and courage to thousands of intellectuals and other dissidents. It helped to cultivate the seeds of opposition and contributed to the eventual triumph of reason over dogmatism. Alfred Reisch’s book fills in an important gap in our understanding of how the United States effectively used the “soft power” of information not only to promote democracy but to contribute to the collapse of European communism. The word indeed proved mightier than the sword. Janusz Bugajski, policy analyst, writer, and lecturer based in the United States Scholars of the Cold War and Public Diplomacy, as well as the general public, should welcome publication of this book which is the first detailed account of a previously little -known cultural program of the United States that helped to win the Cold War. Written by an insider who worked on the program at the time...
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