With extensive documentation and illustrative examples, Leighton makes clear one of the great political success stories of modern history: the Soviet Union's use of propaganda to influence Western and public opinion. Behind the successes and failures of Soviet policy is the constant flow of propaganda, overt and covert, subtle and direct. Marian Leighton shows what the Soviets have planned and how they operate. After a brief glance at the Russian tradition of propaganda, the text focuses specifically on Soviet propaganda directed against the United States. Beginning at the time of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and the U.S.S.R., the author brings her examination into the Gorbachev era.