CIA book smugglers of the Cold War

History Extra podcast

Immediate Media

History

4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

During the Cold War, the CIA book programme was a covert campaign to smuggle books into the Eastern Bloc using everything from balloon drops to baked bean tins. But why was literature such a significant weapon in the culture wars between east and west? Lauren Good speaks to author Charlie English about his book The CIA Book Club: The Gripping New History of the Best-Kept Secret of the Cold War. (Ad) Charlie English is the author of The CIA Book Club: The Gripping New History of the Best-Kept Secret of the Cold War ( William Collins, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fthe-cia-book-club%2Fcharlie-english%2F9780008495121. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The £5 pound meal deal from McDonald's.
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0:16.0	Carbinated soft drink upgrade fees apply.
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1:02.2	Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine.
1:12.9	During the Cold War, the CIA book program was a covert campaign to smuggle books into the eastern block, using everything from balloon drops to baked bean tins. But why was literature such a significant weapon in the
1:19.8	culture wars between East and West? Speaking to Lauren Good for today's episode, the author
1:25.3	Charlie English explores this campaign and what it tells us
1:29.4	about the power of the written word.
1:32.0	Hi Charlie, thank you so much for joining me today to talk all about your new book, the CIA
1:37.5	Book Club, the best kept secret of the Cold War. We should probably start at the very beginning.
	...

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