Berlin 1961

by Kempe, Frederick

• ISBN13: 9780399157295
• ISBN10: 0399157298
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-05-10
• Publisher: Putnam Adult

Summary

A fresh, controversial, brilliantly written account of one of the epic dramas of the Cold War-and its lessons for today. "History at its best." -Zbigniew Brzezinski "Gripping, well researched, and thought-provoking, with many lessons for today." -Henry Kissinger "Captures the drama [with] the 'You are there' storytelling skills of a journalist and the analytical skills of the political scientist." - General Brent Scowcroft In June 1961, Nikita Khrushchev called it "the most dangerous place on earth." He knew what he was talking about. Much has been written about the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later, but the Berlin Crisis of 1961 was more decisive in shaping the Cold War-and more perilous. For the first time in history, American and Soviet fighting men and tanks stood arrayed against each other, only yards apart. One mistake, one overzealous commander-and the trip wire would be sprung for a war that would go nuclear in a heartbeat. On one side was a young, untested U.S. president still reeling from the Bay of Pigs disaster. On the other, a Soviet premier hemmed in by the Chinese, the East Germans, and hard-liners in his own government. Neither really understood the other, both tried cynically to manipulate events. And so, week by week, the dangers grew. Based on a wealth of new documents and interviews, filled with fresh- sometimes startling-insights, written with immediacy and drama, Berlin 1961is a masterly look at key events of the twentieth century, with powerful applications to these early years of the twenty- first.

Author Biography

Frederick Kempe is the editor and associate publisher of The Wall Street Journal Europe and the founding editor of the Central European Economic Review. A well-known American commentator in Germany, he is also the author of Divorcing the Dictator, a book about America and Noriega featured on the cover of Newsweek, and Siberian Odyssey.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Introduction: The World's Most Dangerous Place	p. xv
The Players
Khrushchev: Communist in a Hurry	p. 3
Marta Hillers's Story of Rape	p. 14
Khrushchev: The Berlin Crisis Unfolds	p. 19
Kennedy: A President's Education	p. 49
The ôSniperö Comes In from the Cold	p. 68
Kennedy: A First Mistake	p. 72
Ulbricht and Adenauer: Unruly Alliances	p. 90
The Failed Flight of Friedrich Brandt	p. 109
Ulbricht and Adenauer: The Tail Wags the Bear	p. 113
The Gathering Storm
Springtime for Khrushchev	p. 129
Amateur Hour	p. 154
Jörn Donner Discovers the City	p. 179
Perilous Diplomacy	p. 184
Vienna: Little Boy Blue Meets Al Capone	p. 209
Vienna: The Threat of War	p. 239
Angry Summer	p. 269
Marlene Schmidt, the Universe's Most Beautiful Refugee	p. 287
The Showdown
ôThe Great Testing Placeö	p. 293
Ulbricht and Kurt Wismach Lock Horns	p. 321
The Wall: Setting the Trap	p. 323
The Wall: Desperate Days	p. 363
Eberhard Bolle Lands in Prison	p. 395
A Hero's Homecoming	p. 398
Nuclear Poker	p. 419
Showdown at Checkpoint Charlie	p. 448
Epilogue: Aftershocks	p. 482
Acknowledgments	p. 503
Notes	p. 507
Bibliography	p. 553
Index	p. 565
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