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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
A solid read. Depressing in places, inspiring in others, I'd somehow expected that it would cover more than just one operation, but the one operation certainly warranted the entire book.
This particular operation of the CIA in Poland may not make up for its more disastrous operations, but it certainly offers a silver lining to their existence and use of government money. It's certainly interesting to read just how much effort went into the underground operations that tried to free the countries behind the Iron Curtain of the communist yoke. It's a topic close to my heart, and the stories were both inspiring and heartbreaking. People gave up a lot, lost a lot, and suffered terribly for other people's ability to have their voice heard in the future, and look at what we use it for today.
Oh, well. Excellent read. It makes me very interested to read Gulag Archipelago, which was frequently mentioned throughout the book as a popular read for the downtrodden Poles. Orwell's 1984 also came up with some frequency, but I've already read that one.
This particular operation of the CIA in Poland may not make up for its more disastrous operations, but it certainly offers a silver lining to their existence and use of government money. It's certainly interesting to read just how much effort went into the underground operations that tried to free the countries behind the Iron Curtain of the communist yoke. It's a topic close to my heart, and the stories were both inspiring and heartbreaking. People gave up a lot, lost a lot, and suffered terribly for other people's ability to have their voice heard in the future, and look at what we use it for today.
Oh, well. Excellent read. It makes me very interested to read Gulag Archipelago, which was frequently mentioned throughout the book as a popular read for the downtrodden Poles. Orwell's 1984 also came up with some frequency, but I've already read that one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Torture, Violence, Police brutality
Minor: Suicide
informative
medium-paced
This was really informative and well written book about the CIA's involvement in the smuggling books into Poland when the Iron Curtain fell. It was interesting and included many things I didn't know. How cool that fighting oppression in the ways of illegal printing presses and underground printers. It was a new look, for me, into how the US used their intelligence to fight in the Cold War. Honestly, this felt like it would make a cool movie in parts, like when the printers were trying to escape their tale to go illegal print.
I will say, it felt a little long, so to speak, with some of the people not getting enough or too much recognition. The spy craft was interesting, but I felt like it lost its way in parts. I would also like to see how this was applied in other countries at the time.
Overall, if you like spies and history, this is a good book to pick up. Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this!
I will say, it felt a little long, so to speak, with some of the people not getting enough or too much recognition. The spy craft was interesting, but I felt like it lost its way in parts. I would also like to see how this was applied in other countries at the time.
Overall, if you like spies and history, this is a good book to pick up. Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this!
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Gripping account of book smuggling operation of western literature such as Orwell’s Animal Farm into Poland during the Cold War. Top read!
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
The CIA Book Club details the secret book programme that distributed millions of books across the Iron Curtain from the 1950s until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Newspapers, pamphlets, and books were transported by truck, yacht, balloon, and in travellers’ luggage, among other methods, to the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Literature, including George Orwell’s 1984, was transported into Soviet-controlled countries to combat censorship and indoctrination by demonstrating the parallels between the Orwellian dystopia and Communism. Miroslaw Chojecki, an underground Polish publisher who endured beatings, force-feeding and exile, and George Minden, the mastermind behind the cause, who believed entertainment, culture, and diversity of thought could aid liberation in Eastern Europe, were just two of the many who sought to galvanise the people of Poland. However, there is also a concern highlighted by underground publishing regarding the West’s patronising tone and the risk that countries in the Eastern Bloc could become puppets of the West rather than independent countries with their own cause. Nevertheless, illicit literature pervaded Poland by the late 1980s and Soviet censorship collapsed.
This book offers a new and interesting addition to Cold War historiography, emphasising the powers words hold as a means of liberation and resistance.
Newspapers, pamphlets, and books were transported by truck, yacht, balloon, and in travellers’ luggage, among other methods, to the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Literature, including George Orwell’s 1984, was transported into Soviet-controlled countries to combat censorship and indoctrination by demonstrating the parallels between the Orwellian dystopia and Communism. Miroslaw Chojecki, an underground Polish publisher who endured beatings, force-feeding and exile, and George Minden, the mastermind behind the cause, who believed entertainment, culture, and diversity of thought could aid liberation in Eastern Europe, were just two of the many who sought to galvanise the people of Poland. However, there is also a concern highlighted by underground publishing regarding the West’s patronising tone and the risk that countries in the Eastern Bloc could become puppets of the West rather than independent countries with their own cause. Nevertheless, illicit literature pervaded Poland by the late 1980s and Soviet censorship collapsed.
This book offers a new and interesting addition to Cold War historiography, emphasising the powers words hold as a means of liberation and resistance.
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
informative