THE TWISTED IMAGE

by Arthur Goodfriend ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 8, 1963

Between 1957 and 1960, the author was Public Affairs Officer in charge of Delhi Branch Post of the U.S. Information Service in India. His job was to project a favorable image of the U.S. to ""110 million souls"". He had 8 American and 55 Indian assistants, a budget ""that made me wince,"" and superiors whose ideas of how to accomplish this herculean task were diametrically opposed to his. This is the story of his uphill fight against the ""twisted image"" of America which is held by most Indians and strengthened by potent, well-distributed Communist propaganda. Mr. Goodfriend felt, and feels, that the usual USIS approach, through the elite ""opinion-makers"", is doomed to failure; he agrees with the idea expressed by Chester Bowles: ""The key to Asian peace lies where we have worked for it least: among the people."" When finally released from his post, the author says, ""The questions I had brought to India were largely answered. While I didn't know all the reasons for America's failure to put across...its desires and real objectives, I had a few hints."" These ""hints"" are well presented and deserving of serious attention. Mr. Goodfriend has also included some excellent description of India's people and their way of life.

Pub Date: May 8, 1963

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1963

Categories: NONFICTION