Abstract
This is the third volume of a comprehensive collection on the history of the Prague-based International Organisation of Journalists (IOJ) by the former President Kaarle Nordenstreng who is also an academic. As the author reminds us, the IOJ was founded in 1946 as ‘a truly universal association of professional journalists, but the Cold War caused it to split, whereby it turned into one of the Soviet-dominated “democratic international organisations” (p. 9). While initially membership was limited to the communist countries of central and Eastern Europe, in the 1950s and the 1960s it spread to the countries of the Global South. However, the Velvet revolution and the fall of communism led to its demise. The book offers a complete history of the organisation. It is split into three parts. Part I, ‘History of the IOJ’, comprises 11 substantive chapters exploring the history of the organisation in chronological order from 1894 until 2016. Part II, ‘Recollections of the IOJ’, consists of 18 personal recollections of IOJ presidents as well as other people both internal and external to the organisation. The final part includes 36 appendices of important documents in the history of the organisation. All in all, this is a rich book offering a thorough historical account of a fascinating organisation, thus also telling a wider story about geopolitical developments in the time periods under investigation.