Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Secret Russian Edition of Doctor Zhivago


The book above looks so harmless and unassuming. It looks that something that would have been self-published in ancient pre-book times. It wasn't self published, it was secretly published in Russian by the CIA and it's a copy Dr. Zhivago. 

The book is in Seattle right now at the Pacific Science Center near the Space Needle in a wonderful exhibit for spy lovers called, Spy: The Secret World of Espionage. It's there until September 1.

It seems that during the Cold War, the book was used as a tool to undermine the Soviet Union. According to the museum, the CIA printed Russian language books so the author Boris Pasternak could win the Nobel Prize for literature. And according to this Washington Post article, the CIA also printed the books because the novel made excellent propaganda. 

Here's what it said in the museum...



Here's one of my favorite scenes from the movie. If you've never seen it, go get it right now and start watching.  



This Spy Exhibit was so fabulous and full, we will be covering it here for the next few days, so come on back. 

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