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This is the astonishing story of the ten million books that US intelligence smuggled across the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. From copies of Orwell to Agatha Christie, the Western effort was to undermine the censorship of the Soviet bloc, offer different visions of thought and culture to the people, and build relationships with real readers in the East. Historian Charlie English follows the characters of the era, with Bucharest-born George Minden at the narrative''s heart. Tasked with masterminding the effort, Minden understood both sides of the story: he was opposed to the intellectual straightjacket created by the communist system, but he also resented the Americans'' patronising tone - the people weren''t fooled by what their puppet governments were saying, but they did need culture, diversity of thought, entertainment, art, reassurance and solidarity. This is how the perilous mission to bring books as beacons of hope played out, told in riveting detail.
Commentaire
'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'
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'
Spectator
'Entertaining and vivid... This is a gripping account of an intriguing and little-known Cold War moment'
Observer
'Gripping...an extraordinarily detailed account of how the [CIA] Book Club set about capturing hearts and minds'
Daily Mail
'Reads like a thriller'
The Sun
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK SMUGGLERS OF TIMBUKTU
'An exemplary work of investigative journalism that is also a wonderfully colourful book of history and travel'
William Dalrymple, Observer, Books of the Year
'This spellbinding record of Timbuktu's intellectual heritage blends accounts of European explorers to the ancient city with contemporary reportage'
New Yorker
'A piece of postmodern historiography of quite extraordinary sophistication and ingenuity [written with] exceptional delicacy and restraint'
TLS
'Part reportage, part history, part romance and wholly gripping a riveting read'
Sunday Times
