East. This is about an hour. Thank you for that kind introduction, and id like thanks to everybody for coming out in these conditions. Im originally from england and will be heading back there shortly, so preparation after Southern California for a british winter. Just like to begin by saying a few words first, how i came to this subject, were describing the scenes of the book. Now, as you have already heard, the my previous book, the mighty wurletzer about cia front groups, nongovernment organizations made up of anticommunist, private citizens, engaged in cold war propaganda overseas and later emerged these groups were in fact being secretly funded and, to some extent, managed by the cia. One group i didnt really engage with in the mighty wurlitzer was the american Friend Office the middle east. And mainly because its purpose didnt seem to be so much to do with the cold war as with promoting the arab world to an american audience, and also it was antizionist, battling the insew lens o
[applause] thank you so much for that, for that kind introduction, and my thanks to everybody here tonight for coming out in these conditions. If you had not guessed from my accent, im from england and headed back there shortly. I think this is preparation after Southern California for a british winter. Just begin by saying a few words by saying the first time i came to the subject before describing the scenes of the book, now, as you already heard, the my previous book was about cia front groups in the early years of the cold war, apparently private, nongovernmental organizations made up of anticommunism citizens engaged in cold war propaganda overseas and emerged the groups were, in fact, secretly funded and managed by the cia. Now, one group i didnt really engage with in the book was the american friends was middle east mainly because its purpose didnt seem to be so much to do with the cold war as was promoting the arab world to an american audience, and, also, it was anti zionist b