Book Review of
Cold War Berlin: An Island City
Vol. 2: The Berlin Wall, 1950-1961
Author: Andrew Long
Europe@War Series No. 12
Helion & Company Ltd.
ISBN: 978-1-914377-10-5
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $24.95
ISBN: 978-1-914377-10-5
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $24.95
From the moment the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or DDR in German) was formed in 1949, many of its citizens chose to leave to start a new life in the west.
By the mid 1950’s, the trickle had turned into a flood, as large numbers rejected Walter Ulbricht’s Communist paradise. His “Workers and Peasants’ State” could not afford to lose the skills and productivity from these key workers, so he proposed a radical solution – physically stop them leaving by fencing in the whole population.
His plan would fortify the inner German Border from the Baltic to the Czech border and would build a wall around Berlin to stop the flow of East German refugees to the West. It was a bold innovative, and desperate move from a morally bankrupt and failing state.
This book explores the background and build-up to this monumental decision, reviewing the dramatic geo-political developments of the 1950’s and early 1960’s as international tensions threatened the post-war peace. Berlin was becoming the front-line in the new Cold War and would witness some of its most dramatic and dangerous moments..
The book examines in detail how Operation Rose, the August 1961 operation to close the border between East and West Berlin was planned and executed and looks at how the world reacted, including the tense standoff at Checkpoint Charlie, in October 1961, between American and Soviet tanks, which could have so easily escalated into World War Three.
The book looks at how the East Germans developed and “improved” the Wall over time with brutal efficiency, creating a highly fortified barrier, manned by elite troops. Despite that, many brave and enterprising individuals risked everything to try to escape to the West over, under or through the Wall. Some made it, but many were captured or killed attempting it.
This is the second title from the author in a series of books on Cold War Berlin. It concentrates on the years 1950 to 1961, picking up where the first book finished, but also looks at developments of the Wall right through to the 1980’s. The text is accompanied with numerous photos, maps, diagrams, and illustrations, which help tell this fascinating story.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. Ltd. is based in the U.K.
This book is soft-cover of 96 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
It contains 97 black and white photos and 12 color ones.
The cover art shows a black and white photo of the Brandenburg Gate behind barbed-wire in East Germany, over a color side profile of a Soviet Mig-17F, that is overall bare metal with a red No. 14 on the sides of its nose.
The back cover shows a color side view of an East German SK-2 water cannon truck, with an illustration of a West German insignia.
The black and white photos include:
East & West German Army men, U.S., Russian and British soldiers and their vehicles and tanks. The U.S., Russian, British and French checkpoints, Soviet watch towers. the Wall being built and different materials used to construct it, several photo of the Brandenburg Gate, teenages throwing rocks at Soviet tanks when they first arrived in Berlin, President J.F. Kennedy’s visit to Berlin and him meeting with Nikita Khrushchev at the Vienna summit, him with U.S. General Lucius Clay and addressing the United Nations, East German refugees in West Berlin reading newspapers about Kennedy’s visit, a woman climbing out an upper apartment building window getting ready jump over the wall (this was before the Soviets boarded up all the windows in these apartment buildings, photos of these apartment building with the windows boarded, inhabitants of one of the buildings being evicted and their furniture taken away in Soviet trucks, photos of Soviet soldiers guarding a tunnel. Bodies of two men who tried to climb over the wall and were shot and of a man who was shot swimming the river, Berlin citizens cheering the arrival of U.S. troops, the Soviet War Memorial and cemetery.
There are 8 maps in the book, Acknowledgements, abbreviations and a forward, a list of fatalities due to the Wall, line drawings of Soviet mines, 3 appendix’s, a bibliography and notes.
Color photos pretty much cover the same things as the black and white ones do.
By the mid 1950’s, the trickle had turned into a flood, as large numbers rejected Walter Ulbricht’s Communist paradise. His “Workers and Peasants’ State” could not afford to lose the skills and productivity from these key workers, so he proposed a radical solution – physically stop them leaving by fencing in the whole population.
His plan would fortify the inner German Border from the Baltic to the Czech border and would build a wall around Berlin to stop the flow of East German refugees to the West. It was a bold innovative, and desperate move from a morally bankrupt and failing state.
This book explores the background and build-up to this monumental decision, reviewing the dramatic geo-political developments of the 1950’s and early 1960’s as international tensions threatened the post-war peace. Berlin was becoming the front-line in the new Cold War and would witness some of its most dramatic and dangerous moments..
The book examines in detail how Operation Rose, the August 1961 operation to close the border between East and West Berlin was planned and executed and looks at how the world reacted, including the tense standoff at Checkpoint Charlie, in October 1961, between American and Soviet tanks, which could have so easily escalated into World War Three.
The book looks at how the East Germans developed and “improved” the Wall over time with brutal efficiency, creating a highly fortified barrier, manned by elite troops. Despite that, many brave and enterprising individuals risked everything to try to escape to the West over, under or through the Wall. Some made it, but many were captured or killed attempting it.
This is the second title from the author in a series of books on Cold War Berlin. It concentrates on the years 1950 to 1961, picking up where the first book finished, but also looks at developments of the Wall right through to the 1980’s. The text is accompanied with numerous photos, maps, diagrams, and illustrations, which help tell this fascinating story.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. Ltd. is based in the U.K.
This book is soft-cover of 96 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
It contains 97 black and white photos and 12 color ones.
The cover art shows a black and white photo of the Brandenburg Gate behind barbed-wire in East Germany, over a color side profile of a Soviet Mig-17F, that is overall bare metal with a red No. 14 on the sides of its nose.
The back cover shows a color side view of an East German SK-2 water cannon truck, with an illustration of a West German insignia.
The black and white photos include:
East & West German Army men, U.S., Russian and British soldiers and their vehicles and tanks. The U.S., Russian, British and French checkpoints, Soviet watch towers. the Wall being built and different materials used to construct it, several photo of the Brandenburg Gate, teenages throwing rocks at Soviet tanks when they first arrived in Berlin, President J.F. Kennedy’s visit to Berlin and him meeting with Nikita Khrushchev at the Vienna summit, him with U.S. General Lucius Clay and addressing the United Nations, East German refugees in West Berlin reading newspapers about Kennedy’s visit, a woman climbing out an upper apartment building window getting ready jump over the wall (this was before the Soviets boarded up all the windows in these apartment buildings, photos of these apartment building with the windows boarded, inhabitants of one of the buildings being evicted and their furniture taken away in Soviet trucks, photos of Soviet soldiers guarding a tunnel. Bodies of two men who tried to climb over the wall and were shot and of a man who was shot swimming the river, Berlin citizens cheering the arrival of U.S. troops, the Soviet War Memorial and cemetery.
There are 8 maps in the book, Acknowledgements, abbreviations and a forward, a list of fatalities due to the Wall, line drawings of Soviet mines, 3 appendix’s, a bibliography and notes.
Color photos pretty much cover the same things as the black and white ones do.
Color side profiles include:
A Soviet Mig-17F, that is the one shown on the book’s front cover (already described above).
A Lockheed F-104A Starfighter from the Tennessee Air National Guard.
A RAF De Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk T.10 aircraft, next to a color illustration of a badge commemorating the British Commander in Chief’s visit to the Russians in Berlin.
A Soviet T034/85 tank that is overall dark green with a white no. 93 on the sides of its turret.
A Soviet T-55 main battle tank that is also overall dark green with no markings shown.
A Soviet BTR-152, six-wheeled APC truck. Overall dark green with no markings shown.
A SK-2 water-cannon truck (Illustrated on the book’s back cover and described above).
A Volkswagen Beetle car of the West German Border Guards, with a machine-gun on a pedestal in the back seat. Overall dark green with no marks.
A British Army Daimler Ferret Mk. 2/3 armored car, overall dark green with a British flag on the side of its turret.
A British Army Centurion Mk-5 in bands of two shades of green, with a British roundel on the sides of the turret.
A U.S. Army M48A-1 Battle tank. In overall olive-drab, with white no, 25 high on its turret sides, over white “WAR EAGLE” and a white star, over white U.S. Army 9A2958 stenciled on the sides of the hull.
A U.S. Army M59 APC. In overall olive-drab, with small white stenciled U.S. Army over 126699 on its sides.
A color illustration of a U.S. Military Policeman (MP) talking on a telephone and holding a Thompson machine gun, with an illustration of his shoulder patch, In khaki uniform, with a long coat, belt with pistol holster and a steel helmet with white M.P. on it.
An East German army soldier, armed with a machine gun, wearing camouflaged grey uniform and steel helmet.
A West Berlin Police officer, in field-grey uniform with a cloth top hat and armed with a machine gun.
A East German infantryman in a field-grey uniform with a soft cloth billed field cap and armed with a machine gun, next to a unit badge.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Andrew Long, from Great Britain, is a military history researcher and editor. His fascination with the Cold War began with a trip to West Berlin in 1986, traveling through Checkpoint Charlie to visit the East. Andrew’s writing comes from a desire to make sense of an extremely complex period in modern history, weaving together inter-relating stories involving politics, ideologies , personalities , technological advances and geography.
There is still much to be told on this fascinating subject. After a successful career in marketing, Andrew relocated to Cornwall and took up writing full time. This is his second book in a series of titles for Hellion's Europe@War series.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Helion & Co. Ltd. Books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
A Soviet Mig-17F, that is the one shown on the book’s front cover (already described above).
A Lockheed F-104A Starfighter from the Tennessee Air National Guard.
A RAF De Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk T.10 aircraft, next to a color illustration of a badge commemorating the British Commander in Chief’s visit to the Russians in Berlin.
A Soviet T034/85 tank that is overall dark green with a white no. 93 on the sides of its turret.
A Soviet T-55 main battle tank that is also overall dark green with no markings shown.
A Soviet BTR-152, six-wheeled APC truck. Overall dark green with no markings shown.
A SK-2 water-cannon truck (Illustrated on the book’s back cover and described above).
A Volkswagen Beetle car of the West German Border Guards, with a machine-gun on a pedestal in the back seat. Overall dark green with no marks.
A British Army Daimler Ferret Mk. 2/3 armored car, overall dark green with a British flag on the side of its turret.
A British Army Centurion Mk-5 in bands of two shades of green, with a British roundel on the sides of the turret.
A U.S. Army M48A-1 Battle tank. In overall olive-drab, with white no, 25 high on its turret sides, over white “WAR EAGLE” and a white star, over white U.S. Army 9A2958 stenciled on the sides of the hull.
A U.S. Army M59 APC. In overall olive-drab, with small white stenciled U.S. Army over 126699 on its sides.
A color illustration of a U.S. Military Policeman (MP) talking on a telephone and holding a Thompson machine gun, with an illustration of his shoulder patch, In khaki uniform, with a long coat, belt with pistol holster and a steel helmet with white M.P. on it.
An East German army soldier, armed with a machine gun, wearing camouflaged grey uniform and steel helmet.
A West Berlin Police officer, in field-grey uniform with a cloth top hat and armed with a machine gun.
A East German infantryman in a field-grey uniform with a soft cloth billed field cap and armed with a machine gun, next to a unit badge.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Andrew Long, from Great Britain, is a military history researcher and editor. His fascination with the Cold War began with a trip to West Berlin in 1986, traveling through Checkpoint Charlie to visit the East. Andrew’s writing comes from a desire to make sense of an extremely complex period in modern history, weaving together inter-relating stories involving politics, ideologies , personalities , technological advances and geography.
There is still much to be told on this fascinating subject. After a successful career in marketing, Andrew relocated to Cornwall and took up writing full time. This is his second book in a series of titles for Hellion's Europe@War series.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Helion & Co. Ltd. Books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
This book will be of interest to modelers and historians alike.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.