Beyond the Wall

A History of East Germany

De: Katja Hoyer

Narrado por: Sam Peter Jackson

AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the ashes of the Second World War to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the definitive history of East Germany, "a fascinating, sparkling book, filled with insights" (Peter Frankopan)

In 1990, a country disappeared. When the Iron Curtain fell, East Germany ceased to be. For over forty years, from the ruin of the Second World War to the cusp of a new millennium, the German Democratic Republic presented a radically different Germany than what had come before and what exists today. Socialist solidarity, secret police, central planning, barbed wire: this was a Germany forged on the fault lines of ideology and geopolitics.

In Beyond the Wall, acclaimed historian Katja Hoyer sets aside the usual Cold War caricatures of the GDR to offer a kaleidoscopic new vision of this vanished country, revealing the rich political, social, and cultural landscape that existed amid oppression and hardship. Drawing on a vast array of never-before-seen interviews and documents, this is the definitive history of the other Germany, beyond the Wall.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“What makes this meticulous book essential reading is not so much its sense of what East Germans lost but of what we never had. A history of the GDR that adds stability, contentment, and women’s rights to the familiar picture of authoritarianism.”
—Stuart Jeffries, Guardian

"[F]ast-paced, vivid and engaging."—Times Literary Supplement

“Forget everything you thought you knew about life in the GDR. This terrifically colorful, surprising, and enjoyable history of the socialist state is full of surprises. Enormously refreshing.”
—Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times

“Brilliant. Hoyer is a historian of immense ability. Exhaustively researched, cleverly constructed, and beautifully written, this much-needed history of the GDR should be required reading across her homeland. Five stars.”
—Saul David, Daily Telegraph

“Enthralling, fascinating, and very readable history.”—Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday

“A rich, counterintuitive history of a country all too often dismissed as a freak or accident of the Cold War.”
—Observer

“A vivid political story of the communist German state.” —Economist

“Myth-busting, artfully constructed history. Hoyer displays a special understanding and wants to present a corrective to previous reductive assessments of the GDR that depict it as a field-gray Stasiland. Her command of detail, broad historical brush strokes, and evident sympathy for her interview partners make for a fascinating read.”
—Roger Boyes, Times (London)

“Having begun her life behind the wall, Hoyer tells the story of the GDR with emotional intensity but also with the detachment and balance of a professional historian who is determined to portray both the good and bad. And a very interesting story it is, too.”
—Oliver Letwin, The Tablet

“Tremendous. Until the publication of Beyond the Wall, there hadn’t been an English-language history of the GDR with which to color in that vanished country’s past.”
—Peter Hoskins, Prospect

“A bold, deft history of the forty-one years of the German Democratic Republic. Hoyer is a historian with skin in the game.”
—John Kampfner, Literary Review

“Beyond the Wall is not just a superb history of East Germany. It is most certainly that, but it is also an outstanding history, full stop. Hoyer’s blend of deeply personal and human stories with high politics and culture brings the story of the GDR vividly to life and shows how the legacy of East Germany is very much alive in Germany and Europe today."
—Diplomatic Courier

Outstanding

The narrative is very well told, and the history is fair-minded, well-researched, and clear-sighted. The author uses the experience of ordinary people as an entry point into the history of the GDR, which gives the history a real sense of time and place. The audiobook narrator does an excellent job as well.

Opening Our Eyes to DDR

Wonderful. An open and deep discourse into the DDR, what it meant to live there, and the political and economic struggles. As someone who grew up in Western Europe of the 60s, 70s and 80s this book stands as a stark contrast to the simplified presentation our media provided us of real life behind the Wall. Thank you to Katja Hoyer for opening my eyes.

Katja strikes again!

Another great survey history of Germany. Hoyer weaves an easy to follow narrative with clear and concise writing. For those unfamiliar with the GDR, this is a fantastic and compelling book.

I only wish she had spent more time Reunification and the East today. We got a chapter at the end which felt a bit rushed, but doesn’t take away from the quality of the book.

Great work on an overlooked subject.

I found this book to be insightful and entertaining. A great history of the DDR.

Very well researched and written

It was very in-depth and tried to be balanced to represent different viewpoints. It was interesting and an easy listen