Materials listed here cover both U.S. and UK broadcasting efforts.
The Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Web site is located at http://www.rferl.org. This is an excellent reference for current information on Russia, Central Asia, and East Europe.
Hale, Julian. Radio Power: Propaganda and International Broadcasting. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1975.
Hill, Cissie Dore. "Voices of Hope: The Story of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty." Hoover Digest 4 (2001). [http://www.hoover.org/publications/digest/3475896.html]
Cummings, Intelligencer 15.3 (Summer/Fall 2007), calls this article a "superb historical overview of RFE/RL."
Hixson, Walter L. Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961. New York: St. Martin's, 1997. London: Macmillan, 1997.
According to Caffrey, History 26.1, the author examines the "cultural infiltration" of the Soviet bloc through propaganda and cultural exchange programs. Hixson details the development of the Voice of America, Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe, and the instruments of cultural diplomacy.
Rawnsley, I&NS 14.2, finds this to be "a fascinating and comprehensive study of early Cold War propaganda.... Hixson's research is impressive.... [He has] produced a book that is based more on primary sources than any other recent treatments of the same subject."
Holt, Robert T. Radio Free Europe. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1958.
Published prior to public knowledge of and does not mention the radio's CIA connection.
Johnson, A. Ross. "Lessons from Hungary '56." International Herald Tribune, 6 Nov. 2006. [http://www.iht.com]
On the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution, "[m]any commentaries ... repeated allegations ... that Radio Free Europe helped provoke the revolution, appealed to insurgents to continue fighting against hopeless odds and promised Western military aid when none could be forthcoming.... Careful review of RFE's Hungarian broadcasts ... show[s] that no RFE broadcast prior to the outbreak of the anti-Communist rebellion on Oct. 23 urged violent confrontation with the authorities. No subsequent broadcast appealed to Hungarians to keep fighting the Soviet Army or promised Western military intervention.... [However,] Hungarian programming, once the uprising began, was marked by a highly emotional tone that ranged from vituperative attacks on Imre Nagy ... to impassioned admiration for the freedom fighters that identified RFE too closely with the revolution....
"Most of the broadcasting into Hungary 50 years ago was factual and professional.... But listening to these objective reports, the Hungarian audience heard widespread support for their cause, and could understandably but falsely conclude that Hungary would not be abandoned by the West. The Hungarian revolution demonstrated that under crisis conditions a broadcast audience can misinterpret even the most accurate, professional news reports of outside sympathy as unqualified backing for their cause, particularly if the broadcaster allows itself the luxury of passionate commentary."
Kracauer, Siegfried, and Paul Berkman. Satellite Mentality: Political Attitudes and Propaganda Susceptibilities of Non-Communists in Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovalia. New York: Praeger, 1956. [Cummings, Intelligencer 15.3 (Summer/Fall 2007), 47/fn.9)]
Michie, Allan A. Voices
Through the Iron Curtain: The Radio Free Europe Story. New York: Dodd,
Mead & Co., 1963.
Published prior to public knowledge of and does not mention the radio's CIA connection.
Mickelson, Sig. America's Other Voices: The Story of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. New York: Praeger, 1983.
Cummings, "Balloons Over East Europe...," fn.1 (see above), calls this book "a good general treatment of the history of the radios," but notes that it was published before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Communist bloc.
Nelson, Michael. War
of the Black Heavens: The Battles of Western Broadcasting in the Cold War.
London: Brassey's, 1997. New York: Syracuse University Press, 1997.
Rawnsley, I&NS 13.2, calls War of the Black Heavens a "magnificent contribution,... a genuinely comparative study ... [and] an absorbing and informative book." It is "well researched and elegantly written." Nelson has added "the missing Soviet dimension that earlier studies have avoided.... The book is at its best when describing the structure of Soviet propaganda,... as well as its reaction to Western broadcasts and the elaborate (and expensive) methods of censorship that the Soviet system built to compete with them.... Nelson also highlights the explicit link between propaganda and intelligence."
Price,
James R. Radio Free Europe: A Survey and Analysis. Washington, DC:
Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 1972. [Cummings]
Puddington,
Arch. Broadcasting Freedom: The Cold War Triumph of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2000.
Kaiser, Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2000, and WPNWE, 21 Aug. 2000, says that "despite its cheerleading tone," this book "is sufficiently thorough to be useful to anyone interested in the minutiae of American foreign policy in Eastern Europe after World War II."
To Lucas, H-Diplo, H-Net Reviews, Sep. 2000 [http://www.h-net.org], "there is some value in passages on political divisions amongst the staff, concern over the tone of broadcasts, and the problems of locating RFE's European headquarters in Munich." The book also "has some broader insights into the tensions caused by the Reagan Adminstration's more aggressive broadcasting strategy. Apart from this, however, Puddington's only distinction is a gung-ho defence of RFE's troops and their mission."
Rawnsley, Gary D.
1. "Cold War Radio in Crisis: The BBC Overseas Service, the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Uprising, 1956." Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 16, no. 2 (1996): 197-219.
2. "Overt and Covert: The Voice of Britain and Black Radio Broadcasting in the Suez Crisis, 1956." Intelligence and National Security 11, no. 3 (Jul. 1996): 497-522.
"Britain supplemented its Suez policy with sophisticated propaganda and psychological warfare." The author focuses with best effect on the "grey" radio The Voice of Britain, while his discussion of black broadcasters in the period lacks specificity. For additional coverage on black radios, see Keith Kyle, Suez (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1992).
3. Radio Diplomacy and Propaganda: The BBC and VOA in International Politics, 1956-64. London: Macmillan, 1996. New York: St. Martin's, 1996.
Short,
K.R.M., ed. Western Broadcasting Over the Iron Curtain. London: Croom
Helm, 1986. [Cummings]
Soley, Lawrence C.
Radio Warfare: OSS and CIA Subversive Propaganda. New York: Praeger, 1990.
Taylor, I&NS 8.4, calls Radio Warfare an "invaluable book about the origins of ... psychological operations.... [It is] well-researched."
Soley, Lawrence C.,
and John S. Nichols. Clandestine Radio Broadcasting: A Study of Revolutionary and Counterrevolutionary Broadcasting. New York: Praeger, 1986.
Sosin,
Gene. Sparks of Liberty: An Insider's Memoir of Radio Liberty. University
Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999.
Cummings says that Sosin's is thus far the best book on Radio Liberty.
Tyson, James L. U.S.
International Broadcasting and National Security. New York: Ramapo,
1983.
Urban, George R. Radio Free Europe and the Pursuit of Democracy: My War Within the Cold War. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997.
From advertisement: The author is "emeritus director of Radio Free Europe." "This book is a unique, personal account of Cold War combat over the airwaves, of psychological battles that succeeded in eroding the international appeal of the Soviet system and ultimately in helping to bring about the implosion of the Soviet empire."
U.S. Department of State. Office of the Historian. Gen. ed., Edward C. Keefer. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976.
Volume XXIX. Eastern Europe; Eastern Mediterranean, 1969–1972. Eds., James E. Miller, Douglas E. Selvage, and Laurie Van Hook. Washington, DC: GPO, 2007. Available at: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/97935.pdf.
From "Preface": "The coverage of this volume is split almost equally between Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean [i.e., Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey].... The second chapter [of the Eastern Europe section] is ... a general one. It deals with U.S. Government policy and the bureaucratic debate about -- and ultimately, the decision on how to fund -- Radio Free Europe (the U.S.-directed -- and clandestinely funded -- broadcasting service aimed at Eastern Europe), and Radio Liberty (a similar service aimed at the Soviet Union)."
Washburn,
Philo C. Broadcasting Propaganda: International Radio Broadcasting and
the Construction of Political Reality. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992.
[Cummings]
Wheland,
Joseph G. Radio Liberty: A Study of its Origins, Structure, Policy, Programming
and Effectiveness. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, Library
of Congress, 1972. [Cummings]
White, D.G. U.S. Military Government in Germany: Radio Reorientation. Karlsruhr, Germany: U.S. European Command, Historical Division, 1950.
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