Who Paid The Piper?

Frances Stonor Saunders has almost single-handedly started off a branch of sub-history; the cultural cold war. Who Paid The Piper? is an extraordinarily good book and I do recommend it to anyone who’s remotely interested in the period – Ian McEwan, author of Sweet Tooth * BBC Radio 4 *This is the fascinating story of the vast post-war Kulturkampf, the Cold War conflict over cultural values and ideologies amid which several literary and cultural generations grew up … a crucial story about the dangerous, compromising energies and manipulation of an entire and a very recent age – Malcolm Bradbury * The Times *A major work of investigative history – Edward W. SaidAbsorbing, distressing and at times uproariously funny * Observer *Francis Stonor Saunders has written a hammer blow of a book, definitely establishing the facts of the CIA’s activities … Her research is formidable, her tone tenacious, her eye for a titbit vivid, her sense of humour lively. * Spectator *Stories of high level espionage… disturbing disclosures and a literary style of enviable sharpness and wit are some of the ingredients to be relished in this marvellously readable account – The Literary ReviewSaunders chronicles this entire story with both verve and an astonishing attention to detail … an interesting and unexpected cultural history of our age * UK Kirkus *

Frances Stonor Saunders has worked as an independent film producer, and her documentaries include the four-hour series Hidden Hands: A Different View of Modernism. She lives in London.