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A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in Poland
Contributor(s): Jones, Seth G. (Author)

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ISBN: 0393247007     ISBN-13: 9780393247008
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
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Binding Type: Hardcover - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: September 2018
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- History | Europe - Poland
- History | United States - 20th Century
- Political Science | Intelligence & Espionage
Dewey: 327.127
LCCN: 2018012172
Physical Information: 1.4" H x 6.4" W x 9.5" L (1.70 lbs) 320 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - 1980's
- Cultural Region - Polish
Features: Bibliography, Illustrated, Index, Maps, Price on Product
Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 05/15/2018
Library Journal 06/01/2018 pg. 103
Publishers Weekly 06/04/2018
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

December, 1981--the CIA receives word that the Polish government has cut telephone communications with the West and closed the Polish border. The agency's leaders quickly inform President Ronald Reagan, who is enjoying a serene weekend at Camp David. Within hours, Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski has appeared on Polish national television to announce the establishment of martial law. A new era in Cold War politics has begun: Washington and Moscow are on a collision course.

In this gripping narrative history, Seth G. Jones reveals the little-known story of the CIA's subsequent operations in Poland, which produced a landmark victory for democracy during the Cold War. While the Soviet-backed Polish government worked to crush a budding liberal opposition movement, the CIA began a sophisticated intelligence campaign, code-named QRHELPFUL, that supported dissident groups. The most powerful of these groups was Solidarity, a trade union that swelled to a membership of ten million and became one of the first legitimate anti-Communist opposition movements in Eastern Europe. With President Reagan's support, the CIA provided money that helped Solidarity print newspapers, broadcast radio programs, and conduct a wide-ranging information warfare campaign against the Soviet-backed government. QRHELPFUL proved vital in establishing a free and democratic Poland.

Long overlooked by CIA historians and Reagan biographers, the story of QRHELPFUL features an extraordinary cast of characters--including spymaster Bill Casey, CIA officer Richard Malzahn, Polish-speaking CIA case officer Celia Larkin, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, and Pope John Paul II. Based on in-depth interviews and recently declassified evidence, A Covert Action celebrates a decisive victory over tyranny for U.S. intelligence behind the Iron Curtain, one that prefigured the Soviet collapse.


Contributor Bio(s): Jones, Seth G.: - Seth G. Jones is the Harold Brown Chair and Director of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), as well as the author of A Covert Action, In the Graveyard of Empires, and Hunting in the Shadows. He lives outside of Washington, DC.
 
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