Veteran RFE insider J. F. Brown’s story of the critical role Radio Free Europe played during the Cold War is the 53^rd volume in the ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy Series. Brown, a widely recognized expert on Eastern Europe who served as RFE director in 1978–83, offers a balanced and penetrating analysis of what made RFE tick. He explains how RFE functioned as a decentralized organization that empowered exiles and points out what it could––and could not—offer East European listeners. RFE, he writes, “broke the communist information monopoly and gave East Europeans the chance to think and judge for themselves.”

Brown’s explanations of the function of the central news department, of discussions with and trust of exile country broadcast chiefs, and of the cautious approach to broadcasting to Poland under martial law after 1981 illustrate the editorial policies and internal relationships that made RFE a success. His portraits of key personalities demonstrate that RFE was not just an institution; it was a unique multinational group of men and women who played a critical role throughout the Cold War.