Wall: The Inside Story of Divided Berlin

by Peter Wyden

Discusses the events surrounding the erection of the Berlin Wall, the Wall's devastating effect on those living near it, and its major impact on East-West relations

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Germany

762 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Peter H. Wyden, born Peter Weidenreich, in Berlin to a Jewish family, was an American journalist and writer.

He left Nazi Germany and went to the United States in 1937. After studying at City University of New York, he served with the U.S. Army's Psychological Warfare Division in Europe during World War II. After the war, he began a career in journalism, during which he worked as a reporter for The Wichita Eagle, a feature writer for The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Washington correspondent for Newsweek magazine, a contributing editor for The Saturday Evening Post in Chicago and San Francisco, articles editor for McCall's, and executive editor for Ladies' Home Journal. He authored or coauthored nine books, and numerous articles that appeared in major magazines. In 1970, he became a book publisher in New York City and Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Source: wikipedia.com

Reviews

[Steven Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Wyden's book to be of enormous historical and literary value in the way he documents the crisis of Berlin, the people involved in it on both sides of the wall, and great detail on characters, places, and life in what was once 'an island of freedom.' I also liked Wyden's character profiles of East Germans coping with life under communism, from ordinary families to the writer Stefan Heym. Wyden captures the swirl of political life and corruption in the life of Berlin, and despite its size was a very quick read.
I thought he did a better job describing this world then the author of the recent Forty Autumns. Wyden's book was enormous help to me when I wrote a novel about postwar Germany, and while he captures the tragedy, there are also a lot of humorous bits, as well as insider knowledge about spying and how the espionage game was played in Berlin. The only fault with the book was that it was published too soon. Another year, and he could have recorded the end of the Berlin wall.
I recommend this book for anyone wanting to understand a period of German history now (thankfully) over.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a magnificent work of narrative history. It starts as a political history as it recounts the primary world leaders who are involved in the years and months and days leading up the Wall's construction in minute but never tedious detail. Its account of the Wall's construction on the first day or two are told from three different points of view: American political folks in Washington, east German political folks in east Berlin, and the American spy community in west Berlin. That may sound repetitive, but Wyden handles it so skillfully the information is fresh and new while still fitting into the overall narrative.

After the Wall goes up, Wyden concentrates on the narrations of those who so desperately try to flee east Germany for the free West. These stories are both inspirational and at times heartbreaking.

This book is comprehensive, this book is exciting, this book is history at its finest.

[Spencer]

Although this book is dated, being published just prior to the historic event of the Berlin Wall coming down, it does bring about many different threads concerning the impact the Wall had on many different lives. For historic content, it is a great resource for those that wish to know more about the Socialist/Communist governments that existed in what seems a long removed time in history. As much as the Vietnam War is in my history, the removal of the Wall is part of my present and this book does put much into perspective as to the importance of that incredible and near unbelievable day when a unified Germany was so quickly realized.