This book analyses a key episode in the cultural Cold War - the formation of the Congress for Cultural Freedom. Whilst the Congress was established to defend cultural values and freedom of expression in the Cold War Struggle, its close association with the CIA later undermined its claims to intellectual independence or non-political autonomy.

By examining the formation of the Congress and its early years of existence in relation to broader issues of US-European relations, Giles Scott-Smith reveals a more complex interpretation of the story. The Politics of Apolitical Culture provides an in-depth picture of the various links between the political, economic and cultural realms which led to the Congress.