Review of 'The Collapse : The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book recounts what is, to my mind, one of the most incredible, and most exciting, events of the 20th century. The fact that Western (particularly US) leaders have insisted on undeservedly making themselves its authors has always irked me; it is to be hoped that this book will make more people aware of why it was so incredible and exciting - because a lot of perfectly ordinary, mostly forgotten East Germans had the courage to rise up and do something the rest of us were convinced was impossible. Even if one is among those who think the triumph of 'democracy' failed to fulfil its promise, the peaceful events leading up to the opening of the Berlin Wall were remarkable.