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.