Beyond the Wall cover art

Beyond the Wall

East Germany, 1949-1990

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Beyond the Wall

By: Katja Hoyer
Narrated by: Sam Peter Jackson
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Longlisted for The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2023.

The definitive new history of East Germany by an acclaimed historian

In 1990, a country disappeared. For the previous forty-one years, East Germany had existed in Western minds as more of a metaphor than a place, more of a grey communist blur than a land of real people with friends and families, workplaces and homes. As Germany once again became a single state, the history of the GDR was simplified and politicised. It was nothing but Stasi spies and central planning, nothing but a wall in Berlin.

In Beyond the Wall, acclaimed historian Katja Hoyer looks past these outdated conceptions and toward a more comprehensive history, one that acknowledges border guards, secret police and brutal repression, as well as comprehensive welfare, unprecedented gender equality, and the deconstruction of class privilege. There were those who were silenced, she argues, and also those who felt they had been given a voice for the first time. Both deserve to be heard today.

Based on first-hand accounts and extensive new research, Hoyer presents the history of the GDR as never before—as a kaleidoscope of perspectives, experiences and stories. From the ashes of the Second World War to the fall of the USSR, this is the definitive story of the other Germany, the one beyond the Wall.

©2023 Katja Hoyer (P)2023 Penguin Audio
20th Century Eastern Politics & Government Eastern Europe Imperialism War Stalin Military Hungary Cold War

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absolutely loved it

I've read a few books about East Germany, but this was by far the best. It filled in all the blanks.
loved the narrator and writing. cant wait to listen to it again.👍👍👍

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A great revisionist history

Tells the story of East Germany through a blend of personal narratives and fresh historical investigation. Interesting, informative and balanced. The narration is exceptional, with the bilingual reader nailing the pronunciation. Highly recommended.

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Wonderful. History with a human face.

This books offers a more nuanced history of the GDR. While it doesn’t shy away from the oppressive and intrusive nature of the communist regime, it does show the accomplishments of rebuilding the country after the devastation of the war and its aftermath.
Along with the grand politics, Hoyer illustrates the mindset of the leaders of the regime and the experiences that shaped their paranoid outlook. More importantly she intersperses the book with interviews with ordinary East Germans, painting a portrait of lived experience of existence in the GDR.

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Loved it.

Absolutely absorbing and interesting. The book gives the whole picture of East Germany not just the snippets of anti East Germany information digested over the decades. It is good to know that East Germany was a lot more than the Stasi and to get an insight into the lives of ordinary East Germans. Writing and reading good.

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Fascinating insights


























A history well told that gives an understanding of today's Germany. A picture of East Germany far more rounded than given this old fellow when a school boy








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