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Finks : how the CIA tricked the world's best writers  Cover Image Book Book

Finks : how the CIA tricked the world's best writers / Joel Whitney.

Whitney, Joel, (author.).

Summary:

"When news broke that the CIA had colluded with literary magazines to produce cultural propaganda throughout the Cold War, a debate began that has never been resolved. The story continues to unfold, with the reputations of some of America's best-loved literary figures-including Peter Matthiessen, George Plimpton, and Richard Wright-tarnished as their work for the intelligence agency has come to light. Finks is a tale of two CIAs, and how they blurred the line between propaganda and literature. One CIA created literary magazines that promoted American and European writers and cultural freedom, while the other toppled governments, using assassination and censorship as political tools. Defenders of the 'cultural' CIA argue that it should have been lauded for boosting interest in the arts and freedom of thought, but the two CIAs had the same undercover goals, and shared many of the same methods: deception, subterfuge and intimidation. Finks demonstrates how the good-versus-bad CIA is a false divide, and that the cultural Cold Warriors again and again used anti-Communism as a lever to spy relentlessly on leftists, and indeed writers of all political inclinations, and thereby pushed U.S. democracy a little closer to the Soviet model of the surveillance state."--Provided by the publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781944869137 (hardcover) :
  • Physical Description: 329 pages, 11 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 22 cm
  • Publisher: New York : OR Books, 2016.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Subject: United States. Central Intelligence Agency > History > 20th century.
United States. Central Intelligence Agency > Influence.
Propaganda > United States > History > 20th century.
Politics and culture > United States.
Freedom and art > Political aspects > United States.
United States > Cultural policy.

Available copies

  • 5 of 5 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect.
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Tumbler Ridge Public Library. (Show)

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 5 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Holdable? Status Due Date
Tumbler Ridge Public Library ANF 327.127 WHITN (Text) TRL20566 Entertaining Non-Fiction Volume hold Available -
Gibsons Public Library 327.1273 WHIT (Text) 30886001031935 Adult Nonfiction Volume hold Available -
Kimberley Public Library 327.1273 WHI (Text) 35137000167592 Adult Non-Fiction Volume hold Available -
Nelson Public Library 327.1273 WHI (Text) 3514830025738 Adult Non-Fiction Volume hold Available -
Williams Lake Branch 327.1273 WHI (Text) 33923005750207 Non-fiction Volume hold Available -


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