Sparks of Liberty An Insider's Memoir of Radio Liberty

During the Cold War, one of America's most powerful weapons struck a major blow against tyranny every day over the airwaves. Radio Liberty became a critical source of information for listeners within the Soviet Union, broadcasting in Russian and more than a dozen other languages, and covering all aspects of Soviet life. Sparks of Liberty provides an insider's look at the origins, development, and operation of Radio Liberty. Gene Sosin, a key executive with the station for thirty-three years, combines vivid eyewitness reports with documents from his personal archives to offer the first complete account of Radio Liberty, tracing its evolution from Stalin's death to the demise of the USSR, to its current role in the post-Soviet world. Sosin describes Radio Liberty's early efforts to cope with KGB terrorism and Soviet jamming, to minimize interference from the CIA, and to survive pressure exerted by J. William Fulbright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who considered Radio Liberty a deterrent to ditente. The insider's perspective sheds important light on world affairs as Sosin tells how, over the years, Radio Liberty took the advice of experts on Soviet politics to adapt the content and tone of its messages to changing times. The book is rich in anecdotes that bring home the realities of the Cold War. Sosin tells how famous Western political figures, educators, and writers broadcast messages about workers' rights, artistic freedom, and unfetterSosin, Gene is the author of 'Sparks of Liberty An Insider's Memoir of Radio Liberty', published 1999 under ISBN 9780271027302 and ISBN 0271027304.