- Hardcover: 512 pages
- Publisher: Harper (May 17 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060786132
- ISBN-13: 978-0060786137
- Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 3.4 x 22.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 635 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #307,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Walls, like those of Hadrian and Maginot, do not have a good reputation, and Taylor (Dresden) has written a superb narrative of the rise and fall of the monstrous one that scarred Berlin between August 1961 and November 1989. Walls, too, are more than merely bricks and mortar (or, in the 100-mile-long Berlin version's case, anti-vehicle crash obstacles, unclimbable barriers, barbed-wire fences, self-activating searchlights and heavily armed border guards), and one of Taylor's major themes is the Berlin Wall's significance in the global power politics of the Cold War. According to Taylor, Kennedy, Macmillan and de Gaulle were not decisively opposed to the division between East and West Germans. Berlin, in truth, was a dangerously volatile potential flashpoint, and while the erection of the wall was brutal and oppressive to those caught behind or trying to get over it, it stabilized Europe and symbolized the differences between capitalism and communism. Reagan, however, emphasized the rights of the trapped and challenged Gorbachev to tear it down. The Kremlin, ironically, was undone by its own creation. Taylor's enthralling story, combined with impeccable research and its rich human interest, makes this as dramatically gripping as any of the spy thrillers that used the wall as a backdrop. 16 pages of b&w photos, map. (June 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
On August 13, 1961, Berliners from both the western and Soviet sectors awoke to find their city divided by a barbed wire barrier. Within weeks the barrier would be converted into a wall, and eventually other obstacles and guard towers would be added. The effect was devastating, as families were divided, friendships severed, and East Berliners forced to live in a virtual prison state for 28 years. Symbolically, the wall presented a physical manifestation of the division of Europe; it also served as a brutal reminder of the tyranny and failures of communism. Yet, as Taylor eloquently illustrates, the wall served the purposes of both the Eastern bloc and the major Western powers. For the fragile East German state, the barrier stopped the intolerable drain of the best and brightest citizens; for the Americans and other Western powers, the sealing off of the Soviet-controlled sector provided a measure of stability and predictability in their relations with the Soviet bloc. Taylor provides a fascinating and often heartbreaking account of both the human costs and the geopolitical effects. Freeman, Jay
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Rise and Fall,
By
This review is from: The Berlin Wall: A World Divided, 1961-1989 (Hardcover)
The title of this book is a little deceiving, in that a good portion of the text deals with events prior to 1961. Not that this is a fault, Taylor actually gives a good accounting of the events that led up to the wall, including a brief history of Berlin and the German state. The period of 1945-61 are discussed in detail, including the roles of the occupying powers, the city, and the two German states. A solid biography of the main players is presented, such as Ulbricht, Brandt, and Honicker.What I thought was a little odd, was when I was 300 pages into the book, I was still on 1962/63. The actual life of the wall is only discussed in a few chapters, and for those intrigued by the cold war espionage legends of Check Point Charlie, that angle was not prominent in this book, although John Le Carre's name does arise a few times. The book mainly concentrates on the immigration, economic, and leadership issues surrounding the wall, the divided city of Berlin, and the divided nation of Germany, and using this theme, Taylor does an excellent job. His findings and conclusions seem to correlate with previous information I possessed about the topic, which allowed me to be comfortable with the credibility of the work. On the whole, I would highly recommend this book. 450 pages may scare off the feint hearted, but the narration itself is not a very difficult read.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews) 28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Well-Constructed Analysis of the Icon of the Cold War,
By John Bennett - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Berlin Wall: A World Divided, 1961-1989 (Hardcover)
Having read Frederick Taylor's fast-moving and extremely informative 'Dresden,' I was looking forward to his latest book on that icon of the Cold War - the Berlin Wall. I was not disappointed.The story of the Wall is not quite as linear as that of Dresden, in which events moved inexorably towards the horrific fire-bombing. Rather, there are three acts: the lead up to the construction of the Wall in 1961; the Wall years; the endgame, 1989. From the start, the book builds with excitement as it is becomes clear that GDR leader Ulbricht, supported by Security Secretary Honecker, will prevail against the preference of (the surprisingly rational) Khrushchev and be allowed to imprison his own people (who were fleeing in huge numbers). Amazingly, all this was not clear to Western security services. At the beginning of the 'Wall years' there is a slowing of pace as West Germany and the world come to grips with what has happened right under their noses, and in defiance of the four-power Potsdam Agreement. But it doesn't take long for the excitement to rise again with the escape attempts and the first death. The unravelling of Soviet power that leads to the eventual dismantling of the Wall seems, in the end, to be a closing chapter of the Second World War rather than of the Berlin Wall itself. Taylor's strength as a historian and storyteller is his ability to weave a great deal of minutely researched detail into a highly readable, very accessible tale. The book taught me an astonishing amount, even though I lived through much of this saga. But it was a pleasure, never a chore. This book is highly recommended for those who wish to more fully understand a frightening period of recent history. 10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
History at its best,
By John E. Drury "jedrury" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Berlin Wall: A World Divided, 1961-1989 (Hardcover)
Frederick Taylor distinguished himself in his previous book "Dresden." He repeats that distinction in this fascinating, informative book on the Berlin Wall. Deep research and a facile writing style make this book a highly informative and interesting read which moves effortlessly from specifics like escape attempts and stories of the dead to a well written overview ending which he entitles "the theft of hope" for the East Germans. His carefully concealed contempt for Walter Ulbricht and Erich Honecker never slides into a polemic. Taylor even allows a trace of humor or maybe farce describing Lyndon B. Johnson's 1961 visit to Berlin who sees Willy Brandt's fine shoes and demands to shop for a pair for himself on Sunday.Taylor, obviously fluent in German, joins the ranks of other fine English historians, all knowledgeable in German, who have recently written superb histories about Germany and European affairs; Max Hastings' "Armageddon," Ian Kershaw on Hitler, Richard Evans' books on the rise of Nazism, Antony Beevor on the battles of Stalingrad and Berlin, and Adam Zamoyski on Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna. These are all fine histories which obviously come about by the access to records, previously unavailable, before the fall of the Wall. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
the wall,
By Patrick J. Glenn "CurlyJackWire" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Berlin Wall: A World Divided, 1961-1989 (Paperback)
A well written insightful look at Berlin, the wall and the cold war. As with any good history this is a story of people places and time. Taylor brings to life people as diverse (or maybe as similar) as Fredrich the Great, Erich Honecker, the Cold War Leaders and working class Berliners. Each story had me going to Google Earth to look for the part of Berlin in which it took place. Taylor starts not in 1961, but with founding of Berlin as a divided cityand takes us through the rise and fall of the wall and those who built it. If you like history from a European viewpoint rather than the harsh anti-communism of most American treatment of this subject you'll like this book.
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Europe > Germany
- Books > New & Used Textbooks > Humanities > History > Europe
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
