Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990

Reviews

Richard List

The brilliant Katja Hoyer, reminds us that history is very rarely the story of good versus evil - as much as we wish it was that simplistic. What comes through in these pages is the authentic voice of the former GDR.

A Customer

An absolutely fantastic book. Sometimes a lot more. It’s great strength is it’s balance. But it wasn’t all about the Stasi and oppression.

adie bond

I found this book page turning knowledge filling and I would recommend it . The GDR was deeply problematic, desperately inefficient and, at times, inhumane. Of course everything wasn't rosie and the author doesn't shy away from such subjects as the Stasi and why the Berlin Wall was there in the first place.

This book challenges the reader to leave their preconceptions about the former East Germany and go back to the start and it isn't 1949. Excellent. People lived their lives and, in some areas such as child care and women’s rights, it was more progressive than the West.

With a rich mixture of characters and a timeline the reader feels fully involved in the evolution of East Germany from the politics that even Stalin thought went a bit too far ,to the lives of ordinary folks or should that be Volk, that carried on and lived their lives and mostly their lives weren't awful infact far from it ,high female employment and excellent child care facilities are two examples.