Sometimes a book escapes our notice, but thanks to the American Library Association’s online review journal, Choice, “Cold War Broadcasting – Impact on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe” attracts new attention.

The publication picked that book as one of 2011’s outstanding academic titles. Published by the Central European University Press, it was edited by A. Ross Johnson and R. Eugene Parta, both veterans of Radio Free Europe.

With sections written by radio broadcasters and scholars, Johnson and Parta examine the broadcast part of the “soft” conflict during the Cold War. According to the publisher, their contributors are able to take advantage of newly declassified material along with access to now-accessible populations that were the target audience of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.

Topics include overall broadcast goals, programs for individual countries, the audiences, jamming attempts and other countermeasures by authorities and estimates of effectiveness.

Price: $55.