Saunders, Frances Stonor 1966–

PERSONAL: Born 1966. Education: Graduated from St Anne's College, Oxford.

ADDRESSES: Home—London, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Fourth Estate, 77-85 Fulham Palace Rd., Hammersmith, London W6 8JB, England.

CAREER: Editor, writer, and producer. Former arts editor for New Statesman; producer of arts documentaries for British Broadcasting Corporation, London, England.

AWARDS, HONORS: William Gladstone History Prize, Royal Historical Society, 2000, for Who Paid the Piper?: The CIA and the Cultural Cold War.

WRITINGS:

Who Paid the Piper?: The CIA and the Cultural Cold War, Granta Books (London, England), 1999, published as The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters, New Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Hawkwood: Diabolical Englishman, Faber & Faber (London, England), 2004, published as The Devil's Broker: Seeking Gold, God, and Glory in Fourteenth-Century Italy, Fourth Estate (New York, NY), 2005.

The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters was translated into ten languages.

SIDELIGHTS: Frances Stonor Saunders writes about the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and how it infiltrated various cultural organizations in her book Who Paid the Piper?: The CIA and the Cultural Cold War, published in the United States as The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters. In her book, Saunders describes how CIA operatives, primarily through the front organization known as the Congress for Cultural Freedom, became ensconced in mostly European cultural organizations and then set out to use art and writings in literary journals and other publications to focus on a government-sponsored agenda, such as anti-communism and anti-revolutionary movements. At the same time, these mediums were used to gloss over mistakes by the U.S. government. The operatives working within the institutions also tried to ensure that Washington's questionable international activities went unaddressed. The author reveals that the CIA spent millions of dollars in its "cultural war" efforts and shows how some respected intellectuals accepted CIA money to participate in what essentially was propaganda.

Calling Who Paid the Piper? "fascinating" in the New Internationalist, a reviewer commented that the author "deserves credit for shining a light into this dark and shoddy corner of the US-European relationship." Monthly Review contributor James Petras wrote that "Saunders' book provides useful information about several important questions regarding the ways in which CIA intellectual operatives defended U.S. imperialist interests on cultural fronts. It also initiates an important discussion of the long-term consequences of the ideological and artistic positions defended by CIA intellectuals." Joan Bridgman, writing in Contemporary Review, noted that the author "expertly weaves an impressive array of sources to show how this enterprise was funded and organised." Bridgman also pointed out that the story is not new but added, "What makes it fresh is the detail of this investigation, the concentration of the author's focus, and the drawing together of some hilarious stories about the activities carried out in this ideological battle." In his review in History Today, Stephen Plaice wrote, "A very bleak picture is painted here of a generation of minds that allowed itself to be coerced into equating the idea of freedom with the Pax Americana."

For her next book, Saunders delves further back in history to the tell the story of a brutal, fourteenth-century, medieval mercenary. Hawkwood: Diabolical Englishman, published in the United States as The Devil's Broker: Seeking Gold, God, and Glory in Fourteenth-Century Italy, recounts how Englishman Sir John Hawkwood came to Italy and ultimately led Florence into battle against its foes with a Machiavellian fervor as he exploited his adopted homeland for his own financial benefits. The author recounts the Englishman's early exploits and renown fighting for the English in the Hundred Years' War. When his service was over, Hawkwood decided to take a group of his fellow soldiers with him to Italy instead of returning to his relatively lowly life as a tanner. In the ensuing years, Hawkwood sold the mercenary band's services to the city of Pisa, leaders in Milan, and then in Florence, achieving such renown along the way that the pope christened him "Signore di Bagnacavallo," which means Lord Horsebath. Hawkwood was also immortalized in a fresco by Uccello that was installed in a Florence cathedral. In addition to Hawkwood's exploits, the author explores the political, economic, and social climate of the times, revealing a brutal and evengeful world.

Ian Thomson, writing a review of the book in the Spectator, noted that "Saunders is to be congratulated on setting the record straight, and on telling the story of Lord Horsebath so beguilingly." A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the author aptly reveals the mercenary life and "the nature of their contracts, their alliances and betrayals and their democratic decision making." The reviewer added, "Equally lively is Saunders's account of the great Schism of the Church." Robert J. Andrews, writing in the Library Journal, commented the "Saunders does an excellent job in bringing both Hawkwood and his times to life," while a Kirkus Reviews contributor noted: "British author Saunders does a remarkable job of keeping straight the myriad strands of this historical cat's cradle."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2000, Mary Carroll, review of The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters, p. 1505.

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, September, 2000, Paul D. Boyer, review of The Cultural Cold War, p. 59.

Canadian Dimension, March, 2000, Henry Heller, review of Who Paid the Piper?: The CIA and the Cultural Cold War, p. 44.

Contemporary Review, October, 1999, Joan Bridgman, review of Who Paid the Piper?, p. 211.

History Today, December, 1999, Stephen Plaice, review of Who Paid the Piper?, p. 58.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2005, review of The Devil's Broker: Seeking Gold, God, and Glory in Fourteenth-Century Italy, p. 463.

Library Journal, June 15, 2005, Robert J. Andrews, review of The Devil's Broker, p. 84.

Monthly Review, November, 1999, James Petras, review of Who Paid the Piper?, p. 47.

New Internationalist, October, 1999, review of Who Paid the Piper?, p. 32.

Observer (London, England), November 21, 2004, Jane Stevenson, review of Hawkwood: Diabolical Englishman.

Progressive, July, 2000, Dean Bakopoulos, review of The Cultural Cold War, p. 44.

Publishers Weekly, February 21, 2000, review of the The Cultural Cold War, p. 74; April 11, 2005, review of The Devil's Broker, p. 42.

Spectator (London, England), December 11, 2004, Ian Thomson, review of Hawkwood, p. 37.

Washington Monthly, May, 2000, Robert de Neufville, review of The Cultural Cold War, p. 52.

World and I, September, 2000, Morton A. Kaplan, review of The Cultural Cold War, p. 243.

ONLINE

Asian Review of Books Online, http://www.asianreviewofbooks.com/ (September 19, 2005), James Petras, review of Hawkwood.

Marxism-Leninism Today, http://www.mltoday.com/ (September 19, 2005), James Petras, review of Who Paid the Piper?