Fascinating look into little little-known story of the CIA's program to provide millions of books to those behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War and how it assisted in turning the tide on Soviet leadership of and pressure on Poland. Clearly well researched and in depth look at this recent history.

The title, cover, and topic are extremely interesting, eye-catching, and pertinent in an era where we are dealing with mass censorship and book bans but THE CIA BOOK CLUB was dense and the writing was not compelling by any means. Reading through this book was laborious and it took me over a month to finish. I think I would be disappointed if I impulse purchased this at a bookstore due to the content not exactly living up to the premise.

Thank you for the opportunity to review the contents idea is exactly up my alley but the delivery did not do it for me, unfortunately.

The CIA Book Club by Charlie English

The CIA Book Club is a fascinating look at how the CIA used the power of books and ideas to undermine the Eastern Bloc countries. For decades the CIA funded various front groups, magazines and book publishers to print material that was then smuggled into Poland and other Eastern Bloc countries during the Cold War.

Also, the CIA funded the shipment of printing presses and equipment at a time before computers, the Internet and smart phones when access to information from the West could be restricted. This book primarily focuses on Poland and Polish exiles. It is well written history of a time that is quickly fading from our collective memory. It should be a reminder to everyone the value of reading and the need for freedom to access information. This book should be available in every public library in the US and taught in high school.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley,  Charlie English, and, Random House Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Always excited to open my mind to new authors and topics, I was curious to read the latest tome by Charlie English. Its premise explores a different front during the Cold War, infiltrating the common person trapped behind the Iron Curtain. English explores how the CIA used access to books, and other publications banned by the Communists, to shed light on a freedom many forgot existed. A publication of great interest and intrigue for those with a curiosity about books and the power of the written word.

While the Cold War could be seen as a physical war and a nuclear clash, there was a more subtle battle taking place on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The West wanted to be able to infiltrate the common person living with forced Communism and sought to break the censorship and disinformation regularly fed to people. The CIA found an effective way to do this, first with airdropped pamphlets and eventually by shipping banned books across borders for people to read. The written word would be, the CIA hoped, a sharper weapon than any bayonet. Bloodless battles would turn the people away from communist propaganda.

Historian Charlie English uses a number of perspectives to explore this battle, choosing three periods during the height of the War of Words, 1979-89. English takes his characters and provides the reader with how they sought to bring information into Romania, Poland, and other countries on the cusp of the East-West divide. It was books we take for granted by Agatha Christie, John Le Carré, and even Aldous Huxley to show that there was more to the world than the dreary sentiments many lived in from dawn to dusk. There was no need for death or bloodshed, but rather a fostering of the garden of intellectual interaction that the CIA used to help open the eyes of many and bring down the Curtain, which played a great part in ending the Cold War. 

While I am a lover of history, I enjoy new avenues that help me see something from a new perspective. Charlie English does this well by delivering a clear narrative about a CIA battle to pull down the hurdles to clear thought. As the chapters connect, they tell of a battle that never seemed to end until the work was done. While not violent, there were casualties, but the winner was the oppressed citizen who could see truths from a new perspective. English delivers his accounts well, even if they seemed a tad repetitive at times. I enjoyed all I learned from this book and would encourage others to give it a try to see what they can take from this book. Call it the reader’s own enlightenment from the written word.

Kudos, Mr. English, for a glimpse into a great piece of modern history!

We should build a monument to books…I am convinced it was books that were victorious in the fight. Adam Michnik quoted in The CIA Book Club

What reader could resist a book on books changing the course of history?

For decades the CIA was behind the distribution of banned books and underground newspapers behind the Iron Curtain. Books like Animal Farm by George Orwell, poetry by Czeslaw Milosz, and even Three Hundred Years of American Painting were secreted into Poland. The books were sent directly to citizens as well as in bulk shipments. The future Pope John Paul II was one of the recipients of the program’s books.

The CIA also funded the smuggling of printing presses into Poland so dissidents could print illegal newspapers like Moovia Weekly. Through the Polonia Book Fund they ensured that Solidarity publishers were represented in the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair.

At a time when fake news threatens democracy and book banning controls information, reading about life under an authoritarian dictatorship in Poland sent chills up my spine.

I remember Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement in Poland. It was a virtual police state with all citizen’s rights erased. Dissidents were regularly imprisoned—or disappeared.

George Minden of the CIA believed that “truth is contagious” and that literature could counteract the Soviet’s repression.

The book goes into detail about the people involved in underground publishing, risking their lives, and how the equipment was sourced and how the printing and distribution happened. It was an amazingly complex operation!

Satellite TV was a game changer. Thousands illegally connected to uncensored news and shows.

Finally, after years of brutal repression, Solidarity gained the right to a fair election and won a majority of Senate and Sejm seats. A poster based on the movie High Noon had promoted the election. Censorship loosened up.

Oral histories collected by the author inform the book.

An inspiring, terrifying, and timely read.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

This is an area of the cold war I have not learned about before. In that way, it's interesting. Charlie English clearly has done a LOT of research - from secret operatives' biographies to the line items in various budgets. I was fascinated reading about Chojecki's arrest, the formation of Solidarity, and the political maneuvers following the murder of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko.
However, so many names and organizations are worked into the narrative, that the momentum of the story gets lost. I suspect a lot of people will abandon the book as a result.

The CIA Book Club explores a little-known chapter of the Cold War. Through a combination of several programs and individual conspirators, the CIA smuggled millions of books into the Eastern Bloc to fight censorship, promote free thought, and support political dissidents. Charlie English explores the conflicts, disparate dissident groups, movements, and events on both sides of the Iron Curtain throughout the 1980s.

Well-researched and often gripping, the book highlights how literature and journalism became a quiet but powerful weapon. Some scenes felt like they could have used a little more focus while others I wished had been expanded a little more, but overall it’s a compelling and original read about the power of the written word to inspire change.

*I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Charlie English is a trained journalist which is evidenced in the detailed writing of this account of cold war spycraft. I had never heard of the CIA's program to undermine communism in Poland during the 1970s and 1980s through written material. The network and brave souls that delivered the materials were extensive. The written word was able to keep hope alive for the Polish people during the dark days of repression and communist rule. The book is a suspenseful read as the people involved in the underground book printing and delivery network were at risk of torture and imprisonment if caught. It is fast paced and thrilling as English unveils a little known story that occurred during the Cold War.

This book is well researched. The bottom line is that the author’s writing style in this book just did not resonate with me. In addition, the descriptions of the book are very misleading. The CIA is hardly mentioned and the focuses on Poland and not the other countries behind the Iron Curtain. Other readers found it to be very interesting, but I found it moderately interesting primarily due to the author’s writing style.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for an advance copy of this book that looks at how certain groups came together to provide information to the people of Poland, books on history, literature, art, science, ideas that had been banned by the government, ideas that are still endangered even in our free country.

People joke about the pen being more powerful than the sword. How do your reload a pen, some might ask, and yet the pen always is the first to be gone after. One can look at any oppressive ruler. Sure they don't like an armed society, but they don't like an educated society either. Books and papers, histories and biographies get in the way of the message. It's easier to make believe the truth when there is nothing to compare it to, nothing in opposition, and nothing to make people question. Guns can be used on their owners, as can words, but words can spread, infest the mind and make one question, why don't they want me to know this, and what else don't they want to tell me. People are willing to face public scorn, harsh penalties, prison even death for words. The CIA Book Club: The Secret Mission to Win the Cold War with Forbidden Literature by Charlie English tells of efforts by people who risked their future and their lives to bring books into the country of Poland, the cost in lives and punishment, and what we can learn today about why people continue to insist on censorship and controlling what we read.

The book opens with a brief biography of a woman and a technical journal that was shared by hundreds if not thousands of people. The book was 1984, a book that Communist governments of course censored as, according to the people who lived under totalitarian systems spoke the truth. 1984 is about a time when history is being rewritten, doublespeak is a way of getting around the truth, and the lack of understanding of the world makes people easier to be ruled. For people in Poland 1984 was nonfiction. The book mainly focuses on efforts in Poland to get to people the truth about the outside world, and the history of their own country that the Russian oppressors were trying so hard to erase. There is a brave publisher who spent more time in prison than free in a year, who would be arrested, set free and arrested while walking out of prison. One learns of mimeographers dodging the secret police to work on American machines to make copies of classic books outlawed by the government. A system was developed to send books into Poland, using returning tourists, trains from the West and other tricks that people developed. The CIA was funding some of these efforts, but books weren't considered sexy. Coups and other sword wielding acts received funding, while books were thought to be weak and with poor results. Independent groups became underground book distributors, working with many of the major publishers to get works, and figure out how to book in the hands of readers, and not the secret police.

A fascinating book, one that speaks much about today as it does the Cold War. The title is a bit misleading as this book deals mainly with Poland, but still is very engaging, and gives one hope. There are a lot of brave stories here, publishers, printers, distributors, readers, translators, all coming together to try and make a difference. The book is well-researched with lots of stories and different anecdotes that makes the risks real that these people suffered. The CIA has a role, but I love the fact average people figured out a system that worked. And worked well. One gets a real feel for the power of words, that people were willing to die to try and share a poem, or a history of an event, an event that people in faraway Moscow thought was better to be forgotten.

They always come for books. I can't remember any censor or bookburner on either side of the political spectrum that people ever looked back on and said, boy that person was right. Books have ideas, ask questions, and make people question things. Yes for every 1984 there is a Turner Diary, or Protocols of the Elder of Zion. However that is the thing about ideas and books, one can read them and go, yup not for me. When people don't want you to read something, because it makes them nervous, give it a look. Make up your own mind. The people in Poland fought for this right. America deserves the same. A really topical book, and one that might not be perfect, but one that is worth discussing.

I'll make this brief. I have a reason for brevity, which I will explain at the end. The CIA Book Club by Charlie English is a good idea with flawed execution. The book looks at how Poland used illegal literature to rebel during the USSR years.

There are plenty of people in the book who deserve the spotlight. Mirosław Chojecki is an example. However, some characters dip in and out without leaving a major mark on the reader.

The two biggest issues with the book are the expectation set by the title and English's writing style. The expectation of the title is that the CIA would be heavily involved in the book club and that the story would encompass much of Europe. The narrative is almost entirely focused on Poland and, honestly, I felt that you could have given slight lip service to the involvement of the CIA to spend more time with the Polish characters.

The other issue may be a personal preference of mine and the reason for my comment about brevity earlier. I like simple, clear sentence structure. It honestly felt like English was given a mandate to use as few periods as possible. There are numerous sentences which read as multiple thoughts jammed together with tons of commas. I think other reviewers found the same issues. There are other reviews which elude to "not being able to get into it" or the story feeling like a slog. I agree and I think it is because of the way the story was told. This may be a "me" issue. I have been accused of being persnickety before.

All that said, there is an important story within the book. I don't like how it was told, but I am grateful that someone took the time to pull it together.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by NetGalley and Random House.)

An interesting look at a period of time and series of events that I wasn't overly familiar with. This book also feels relevant with the current political climate in many parts of the world.

A wonderful read!
Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

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!

With the thread of the CIA distribution of literature behind the Iron Curtain throughout this nonfiction book, the bulk of the material is about Poland in the 1980's. Russian control of everyday life was dominant, and freedom of the press did not exist. English describes in great detail the heroic risks many individuals took to publish and disseminate information and literature with the assistance of the CIA's funding and delivery. The loss of personal rights, the consequences of disobedience, and then the rise of the Solidarity movement experienced in Poland, are necessary reminders of what can happen under oppression. The power of books, magazines, and newspapers can make all the difference.

I struggled to get past the ableism and fatphobia, but it was really the terrible, scattershot organization of the book that made me give it a single star. The topic is timely and the stories are important to tell, but the book reads like a first draft of a student thesis, lacking coherence and a sense of narrative or linearity as well as lacking context.

A fun read that emphasizes the fact that the Cold War was about cultural expression as much as politics and spheres of influence. English brilliantly illustrates the power of the written word to shape hearts and minds, challenge authoritarian narratives, and carrying the torch for liberal humanism. This book made me further appreciate the need for freedom of expression, all the more so in our current climate of book banning and library purges. WE would do well to heed English's warning - the Cold War may be over, but antiliberalism is on the rise.

“The CIA Book Club” was a fascinating read. I was unaware of the extent of the efforts to develop and maintain an underground publishing industry and to smuggle books into Poland and other Eastern European countries. I was also unaware that the CIA helped finance and facilitate those activities. The book highlights Polish citizens both in Poland and in Western Europe or the US who were instrumental in smuggling in books, printing equipment and other materials, as well as important non-Polish individuals and organizations who provided valuable assistance. It explains how the CIA became involved and the nature of its assistance. The story discusses how the Solidarity movement came about and its ups and downs; how the underground press operated and how it supported and magnified the impact of Solidarity; how the Polish communist regime responded; and the events that eventually led to a free Poland.

I particularly enjoyed learning about the different methods used to get the books and printing equipment into Poland; how the material was disseminated in Poland; how Polish citizens snuck printed material and information out of the country to make the world more aware of what was happening in Poland and allowing Polish emigres to assemble the information into newsletters or books that could then be smuggled back into Poland and disseminated.