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The CIA book club : the best-kept secret of the Cold War

English, Charlie2026
Books, Manuscripts
Charlie English uncovers a little-known chapter of Cold War history: a covert effort to smuggle books behind the Iron Curtain. For decades after the Second World War, Europe was divided by a fortified border separating the democratic West from the Soviet-controlled East - but the conflict was also a battle of ideas. Through a secret 'books programme', the CIA helped distribute millions of banned works across Eastern Europe. Led by George Minden, the operation sent literature by writers such as George Orwell and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn across borders in trucks, balloons and travellers' luggage - where they were secretly shared and copied. Through the stories of publishers and dissidents - including Polish activist Mirosaw Chojecki - this book shows how literature became a quiet but powerful weapon against censorship.
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