Taking Books to the World
American Publishers and the Cultural Cold War
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7869016 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Steven Biel (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 106 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 250-251 |
| Publication date | 2019-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of American History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8723 • E-ISSN: 1945-2314 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jahist/jaz302 |
| OpenAlex | W2947036217 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
Datus C. Smith Jr., the former director of Princeton University Press and, starting in 1952, the chair of Franklin Book Programs, explained the programs' aims in the Middle East. Publishing books in translation and supporting the development of a publishing infrastructure would “give the people of the Arab states a realistic view of the world and their place in it,” “help rescue the Arab heritage from its present plight as the exclusive property of bigots,” and “further the development of free institutions with the objective of aiding political stability and economic health—or preventing a vacuum into which the Soviets can move” (pp. 47–48). Smith's statement brings together the motives—ideological, philanthropic, political, economic—behind Franklin Book Programs' venture into Cold War cultural diplomacy. It also captures the “condescending and paternalist” attitudes that informed the project (p. 55). Amanda Laugesen's Taking Books to the World provides a thorough, nuanced account of how Smith and his fellow “bookmen,” funded by the United States Information Agency (Usia), the Ford Foundation, and major corporations sought to win hearts and minds by establishing “a kind of American Cold War book empire, one that brought American books and the publishing industry to all corners of the globe” (p. 2). Franklin Book Programs' preferred terrain—the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—distinguished them from other participants in America's cultural Cold War, as did their aspiration “to cultivate a worldwide appreciation” of books (p. 157). The project proved most successful in Egypt and Iran, where it set up stable offices and provided a steady supply of largely American titles translated into Arabic and Persian. The programs' New York headquarters and satellite offices resisted Usia pressure to publish more explicitly propagandistic works, and their lists were eclectic—sometimes bizarrely so. Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (1868) was a particular favorite alongside Carl L. Becker's The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers (1932
Agency (philosophy · Diplomacy · Economic history · Globe · Ideology · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Publishing · Social science · Sociology · German History and Society · History · History of Computing Technologies · Intelligence, Security, War Strategy · Law
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2024 (3) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |