There is much discussion these days about public diplomacy communicating directly with the people of other countries rather than through their diplomats but little information about what it actually entails This book does exactly that by detailing the doings of a US Foreign Service cultural officer in five hot spots of the Cold War Germany Laos Poland Austria and the Soviet Union as well as service in Washington DC with the State Department the Helsinki Commission of the US Congress and the National Endowment for Democracy Part history part memoir it takes readers into the trenches of the Cold War and demonstrates what public diplomacy can do It also provides examples of what could be done today in countries where anti Americanism runs high