Promoting diversity. The Polonia Book Fund, Ltd Transnational Network, 1958-1963
This article discusses the history of the so-called “book program”—a joint effort by the U.S. government, the East European diaspora, and readers of prohibited books behind the Iron Curtain. Between 1956 and 1989 the program purchased some 10 million copies of publications and delivered them to people in Soviet–dominated Eastern Europe in order to undermine communist rule. Using the historical materials of the Polonia Book Fund, a U.S.–sponsored publishing project for Poland, this article contributes new insights on the transatlantic perspective of the cultural Cold War. This article focuses on the program’s early stages, and describes various elements of the transnational smuggling network. The program’s state-private partnership was a workable solution that helped to foster a diversity of opinions in post-Stalinist Poland.
Funding
This text was written with the support of the Polish National Science Center “Program książkowy dla Polski 1956-1989 (“The Book Program for Poland 1956-1989,” UMO-2016/23/B/HS/00445).
History
Declaration of conflicts of interest
NoneCorresponding author email
sowinski@isppan.waw.plLead author country
- Poland
Lead author job role
- Higher Education Researcher
Lead author institution
Institute of Political Studies, Warsaw, PolandHuman Participants
- Yes