Gary D. Rawnsley brings together recently declassified material, both in Britain and the United States, and the recollections of participants to chart the use and abuse of the BBC external services and the Voice of America during the Suez crisis, the Hungarian uprising, the Cuban missile crisis and the beginning of the American involvement in Vietnam.

He demonstrates that the media are crucial to an informed understanding of the diplomatic process, and in doing so encourages readers to view the Cold War from a fresh and exciting perspective.