The Berlin Wall

By: Frederick Taylor

Narrated by: Daniel Philpott

The appearance of a hastily constructed barbed wire entanglement through the heart of Berlin during the night of 12-13 August 1961 was both dramatic and unexpected. Within days, it had started to metamorphose into a structure that would come to symbolise the brutal insanity of the Cold War: the Berlin Wall.

A city of almost four million was cut ruthlessly in two, unleashing a potentially catastrophic East-West crisis and plunging the entire world for the first time into the fear of imminent missile-borne apocalypse. This threat would vanish only when the very people the Wall had been built to imprison breached it on the historic night of 9 November 1989. The Berlin Wall is the definitive account of a divided city and its people.

©2009 Frederick Taylor (P)2011 Audible Ltd

Bad transfer from CD

Great story. Bad transfer from CD as various sentences and phrases would repeat themselves. In one case the entire name and title of the book was repeated. (I presume that this was were the end of one CD meet the beginning of the next CD.)

Fascinating Content but Terrible Accents

I found the content of the book to be so interesting. I find this period of history to be so captivating and this book helped contribute to me learning more about the period. However, the narrator's accents were unnecessary and were poor caricatures that severely detracted from enjoying the book. In retrospect, reading the hard copy would have been a better option.

Detailed report of the events

At first the intro was misleading me and almost made me end listening to the book. I am glad I continued.

Makes a dark chapter "enjoyable"

If you could sum up The Berlin Wall in three words, what would they be?

A big story

What did you like best about this story?

It covered all facets and not just personal or diplomatic but intertwined the stories to give a really complete future. So you learned about the effect of the Wall on people like many histories but also how it was planned and then executed At first I wasn't sure about the narrator, but as I went along his narration really helped the story along.

Excellent narrative about a dismal era.

What made the experience of listening to The Berlin Wall the most enjoyable?

The compelling stupidity about the Cold War.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It didn't really have a "character".

What does Daniel Philpott bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He helps focus the events.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No, it was all very sad.

Any additional comments?

no