" Among America's most unusual and successful weapons during the
Cold War were Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. RFE-RL had its
origins in a post-war America brimming with confidence and secure
in its power. Unlike the Voice of America, which conveyed a
distinctly American perspective on global events, RFE-RL served as
surrogate home radio services and a vital alternative to the
controlled, party-dominated domestic press in Eastern Europe. Over
twenty stations featured programming tailored to individual
countries. They reached millions of listeners ranging from
industrial workers to dissident leaders such as Lech Walesa and
Vaclav Havel. Broadcasting Freedom draws on rare archival material
and offers a penetrating insider history of the radios that helped
change the face of Europe. Arch Puddington reveals new information
about the connections between RFE-RL and the CIA, which provided
covert funding for the stations during the critical start-up years
in the early 1950s. He relates in detail the efforts of Soviet and
Eastern Bloc officials to thwart the stations; their tactics ranged
from jamming attempts, assassinations of radio journalists, the
infiltration of spies onto the radios' staffs, and the bombing of
the radios' headquarters. Puddington addresses the controversies
that engulfed the stations throughout the Cold War, most notably
RFE broadcasts during the Hungarian Revolution that were described
as inflammatory and irresponsible. He shows how RFE prevented the
Communist authorities from establishing a monopoly on the
dissemination of information in Poland and describes the crucial
roles played by the stations as the Berlin Wall came down and the
Soviet Union broke apart. Broadcasting Freedom is also a portrait
of the Cold War in America. Puddington offers insights into the
strategic thinking of the RFE-RL leadership and those in the
highest circles of American government, including CIA directors,
secretaries of state, and even presidents.
General
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