In short, this is a book documenting the CIA's activity within the Congress for Cultural Freedom, an organisation set up to combat growing communism in Western Europe and America after the Second World War. Saunders is meticulous in writing down every (known) dollar that went in and out of the committee, and every event set up, too.

He makes a strong case that most post-war culture in Europe and America has been influenced by American foreign policy.

Perhaps I'm not enough of a hardcore conspiracy theorist, but I did find it hard to keep interest in a narrative that picks up every small detail about every single dollar that gets passed around by the CIA.

If you can sit through an accounting book of the CIA then it's a fascinating read. It's a sort of open secret that the CIA are/were heavy handed in influencing culture and politics but I don't think people appreciate how vast their network was. They had their tentacles around relatively obscure journals to world-famous authors.

It would be interesting to see a sequel for recent modernity. I have absolutely NO doubt the CIA have their grubby hands all over twitter and reddit. I think it's probably even more true now. I don't think you can be popular without the consent of the CIA given how easy it is to manipulate the internet.

Let's hope lit.salon isn't compromised.