In The CIA Book Club: The Secret Mission to Win the Cold War with Forbidden Literature, Charlie English (The Gallery of Miracles and Madness) explores decades of literary resistance in Poland, which occurred in part because of the support of a little-known though expansive operation by the CIA. The covert intelligence operation known as the "CIA books program" distributed censored materials beyond the Iron Curtain. It was headed by operative George Minden, who was an exile from Romania who worked in the Free Europe Committee's (FEC) New York office. Under the guise of the International Literary Centre, it would, over the course of 35 years, disseminate close to 10 million items. It supported underground publishing movements that broke through the state-sponsored propaganda that kept citizens from their histories, stories, arts, and cultures.
Shaped by his experience as a journalist, English's straightforward, no-holds-barred reportage-style narrative tells a complex story that has many moving pieces and opinionated characters. English examines the risks taken by many individuals in a vast, dispersed network that considered the printing press and access to information as much a weapon as any tank could be in a war zone. He celebrates the work of everyday people choosing to resist, without romanticizing the very real dangers they faced in making those choices.
The newspapers, the shared literature, and the networks to smuggle them all became part of a "living social movement." The underground education of the people through censored literature continued to show other ways to live. The CIA Book Club is a gripping lesson in long-term resistance and the resilience of the human spirit. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer