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On June 8, 1967, Egypt's most famous radio broadcaster, Ahmed Said, reported that Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian forces had defeated the Israeli army in the Sinai, had hobbled their British and US allies, and were liberating Palestine. It was a lie.
For the rest of his life, populations in the Middle East vilified Said for his duplicity. However, the truth was that, by 1967, all the world's major broadcasters to the Middle East were dissimulating on the air. For two decades, British, Soviet, American, and Egyptian radio voices created an audio world characterized by deceit and betrayal. In this important and timely book, Margaret Peacock traces the history of deception and propaganda in Middle Eastern international radio. Peacock makes the compelling argument that this betrayal contributed to the loss of faith in Western and secular state-led political solutions for many in the Arab world, laying the groundwork for the rise of political Islam.
For the rest of his life, populations in the Middle East vilified Said for his duplicity. However, the truth was that, by 1967, all the world's major broadcasters to the Middle East were dissimulating on the air. For two decades, British, Soviet, American, and Egyptian radio voices created an audio world characterized by deceit and betrayal. In this important and timely book, Margaret Peacock traces the history of deception and propaganda in Middle Eastern international radio. Peacock makes the compelling argument that this betrayal contributed to the loss of faith in Western and secular state-led political solutions for many in the Arab world, laying the groundwork for the rise of political Islam.
Price: $95.00
Pages: 326
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
25 February 2025
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520409736
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
“Exceptionally well written, impressively informative, and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation. A substantial and original work of meticulous and detailed scholarship.”
Margaret Peacock is Professor of History at the University of Alabama. She is author of Innocent Weapons: The Soviet and American Politics of Childhood in the Cold War and coauthor of A Deeper Sickness: Journal of America in the Pandemic Year.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1 • The Rise of a “Radioyazik”: British and Soviet Radio in the Postwar Middle East
2 • The Resonance Machine Is Born: The Fight for Palestine, the Battle for Israel
3 • “Imagine, O Arabs!”: Voice of the Arabs and the Rise of Egyptian Radio
4 • The Power of Peace: Radio Moscow and the Shaping of the Audio Landscape
5 • The Echo Chamber: The Americans Enter the Fight
6 • Britain’s Struggle for Air: The Sounds of a Dwindling Empire
7 • The Eleventh Hour: The Audiosphere Prepares for War
8 • Cacophany: The Crisis of Suez
9 • Voices Carry: Language and the Crisis of Truth
10 • Poisonous Propaganda or Productive Progress to Peace: 1967 and the Collapse of the Audiosphere
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1 • The Rise of a “Radioyazik”: British and Soviet Radio in the Postwar Middle East
2 • The Resonance Machine Is Born: The Fight for Palestine, the Battle for Israel
3 • “Imagine, O Arabs!”: Voice of the Arabs and the Rise of Egyptian Radio
4 • The Power of Peace: Radio Moscow and the Shaping of the Audio Landscape
5 • The Echo Chamber: The Americans Enter the Fight
6 • Britain’s Struggle for Air: The Sounds of a Dwindling Empire
7 • The Eleventh Hour: The Audiosphere Prepares for War
8 • Cacophany: The Crisis of Suez
9 • Voices Carry: Language and the Crisis of Truth
10 • Poisonous Propaganda or Productive Progress to Peace: 1967 and the Collapse of the Audiosphere
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index