The CIA Book Club - by Charlie English (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Recounts a covert Cold War operation led by George Minden to smuggle banned literature into Eastern Europe, focusing on the cultural and psychological battle against Soviet censorship and the role underground reading networks played in weakening totalitarian control, especially in Poland"--

Book Synopsis

"A story as fascinating as it is undersung . . . a riveting account" (The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice) of the CIA's secret program to smuggle millions of books through the Iron Curtain during the Cold War

"English's true tale of the federal government smuggling subversive books through the Iron Curtain sounds like a current-times call to action. . . . The book's allure is intrigue, danger, and suspense in the service of meaning."--NPR

For nearly five decades after the Second World War, the Iron Curtain divided Europe, forming the longest and most heavily guarded border on earth. No physical combat would take place along this frontier: the risk of nuclear annihilation was too high for that. Instead, the war was fought psychologically. It was a battle for hearts, minds, and intellects. Few understood this more clearly than George Minden, head of a covert intelligence operation known as the "CIA book program," which aimed to undermine Soviet censorship and inspire revolt by offering different visions of thought and culture.

From its Manhattan headquarters, Minden's "book club" secretly sent ten million banned titles into the East. Volumes were smuggled aboard trucks and yachts, dropped from balloons, hidden aboard trains, and stowed in travelers' luggage. Nowhere were the books welcomed more warmly than in Poland, where they would circulate covertly among circles of like-minded readers, quietly making the case against Soviet communism. Such was the demand for Minden's texts that dissidents began to reproduce them in the underground. By the late 1980s, illicit literature was so pervasive in Poland that censorship broke down: the Iron Curtain soon followed.

Charlie English narrates this tale of Cold War spycraft, smuggling, and secret printing operations for the first time, highlighting the work of a handful of extraordinary people who fought for intellectual freedom--people like Miroslaw Chojecki, who suffered beatings, imprisonment, and exile in pursuit of his clandestine mission. The CIA Book Club is a story about the power of the printed word as a means of resistance and liberation. Books, it shows, can set you free.

Review Quotes

"Entertaining and vivid . . . [Charlie] English writes thrillingly about the activists inside Poland. . . . This is a gripping account of an intriguing and little-known Cold War moment."--The Observer

"Charlie English tells the tale of a 1980s secret operation in communist-controlled Poland. . . . A vivid and moving story. [English] is terrific at evoking the atmosphere of Poland in the 1970s and 1980s--not just the regime's narrowed horizons and suffocating repression, but the excitement of the Solidarity trade union movement and the idealism of the young dissidents."--The Times

"Vibrant, beautifully researched and exciting . . . a real pleasure to read--a finely written page-turner full of well-researched stories of smuggling, intrigue and survival."--The Guardian

"This covert CIA programme to undermine censorship in the Soviet bloc is the subject of Charlie English's impressively detailed account. . . . English does a first-rate job in piecing together this patchily known story in efficient, pacy prose."--The Spectator

"A story as fascinating as it is undersung. [The CIA Book Club] delivers a riveting account centered on Poland in the turbulent 1980s, when the 'war of ideas' could exact real casualties. This was spycraft as soulcraft. . . . The publication of The CIA Book Club feels perfectly, painfully timely. . . . A reminder of what's lost when a government no longer believes in the power of its own ideals."--The New York Times Book Review

"A timely look at how CIA money helped Poland's underground print banned books . . . [English] has a knack for suspense. . . . This book reads like a spy novel."--Financial Times

"English's book reads like a thriller. . . . This literary history is a prescient one. . . . A reminder that words are powerful and that stories matter. Sometimes the most rebellious thing one can do is read a book."--Los Angeles Times

"English's true tale of the federal government smuggling subversive books through the Iron Curtain sounds like a current-times call to action from the American Library Association. . . . [English] reports a CIA spy caper to flood the communist zone with The Gulag Archipelago, among other titles. The book's allure is intrigue, danger, and suspense in the service of meaning."--NPR

"A gripping lesson in long-term resistance and the resilience of the human spirit. . . . Journalist Charlie English explores the underground culture of literary smuggling into Poland before the fall of [the] Iron Curtain."--Shelf Awareness

"A fascinating account of a world-changing covert operation and a first-rate contribution to the history of the CIA."--Tim Weiner, author of Legacy of Ashes

"Vivid history of a CIA-funded program to introduce subversive literature to Eastern Europe during the Soviet bloc era. . . . A well-crafted book about books--and spooks, skullduggery, and a time when ideas mattered."--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Charlie English is a former journalist for The Guardian, where he held several positions including arts editor and head of international news. A fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the author of three previous books, The Gallery of Miracles and Madness, The Storied City, and The Snow Tourist, he has traveled and reported widely around the globe. Charlie English lives in London with his family.