The collapse the accidental opening of the Berlin Wall

"In The Collapse historian Mary Elise Sarotte shows that the opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, was not, as is commonly believed, the East German government's deliberate concession to outside influence. It was an accident. A carelessly worded memo written by mid-level bureaucrats, a bum...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sarotte, M. E. (Author)
Format: Books Print Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group, [2014]
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Summary:"In The Collapse historian Mary Elise Sarotte shows that the opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, was not, as is commonly believed, the East German government's deliberate concession to outside influence. It was an accident. A carelessly worded memo written by mid-level bureaucrats, a bumbling press conference given by an inept member of the East German Politburo, the negligence of government leaders, the bravery of ordinary people in East and West Berlin--these combined to bring about the end of nearly forty years of oppression, fear, and enmity in divided Berlin. Drawing on evidence from archives in multiple countries and languages, along with dozens of interviews with key actors, The Collapse is the definitive account of the event that brought down the East German Politburo and came to represent the final collapse of the Cold War order"--Provided by publisher.
Physical Description:xxvi, 291 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-272) and index.
ISBN:9780465064946 (hardback)
0465064949 (hardback)
Author Notes:Mary Elise Sarotte is Visiting Professor of Government and History at Harvard University and Dean's Professor of History at the University of Southern California. A former White House Fellow and Humboldt Scholar, she is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author, most recently, of 1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe , a Financial Times Book of the Year. She lives in Boston and Los Angeles.