The tunnels : the untold story of the escapes under the Berlin Wall / Greg Mitchell.
Publication details: London : Bantam Press, 2016.Description: 382 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 25 cmISBN:- 9780593075968
- 059307596X
- 9780593075975 (paperback)
- Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Political and social views
- Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Political and social views
- Columbia Broadcasting System, inc -- History
- National Broadcasting Company -- History
- Columbia Broadcasting System, inc -- History
- National Broadcasting Company -- History
- Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961-1989
- Political activists -- Germany (West) -- Biography
- Refugees -- Germany (East) -- Biography
- Documentary films -- Censorship -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- Documentary films -- Censorship -- United States -- History
- Refugees -- Germany (East)
- Political activists -- Germany (West)
- Escapes -- Germany (East) -- History
- Escapes -- Germany -- Berlin -- History -- 20th century
- Tunnels -- Germany -- Berlin -- History -- 20th century
- Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961-1989 -- History
- 943.1550875 23
Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item reserves | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Melbourne Athenaeum Library | Non-Fiction | 943.155 MIT | Available | 065294 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
In the summer of 1962, one year after the rise of the Berlin Wall, a group of daring young West Germans risked prison, Stasi torture and even death to liberate friends, lovers, and strangers in East Berlin by digging tunnels under the Wall. Then, as the world's press heard about the secret projects, two television networks raced to be the first to document them from the inside, funding two separate tunnels for exclusive rights to film the escapes. In response, President John F. Kennedy and his administration, wary of anything that might raise tensions and force a military confrontation with the Soviets, maneuvered to quash both documentaries. As Greg Mitchell's riveting narrative unfolds, we meet extraordinary characters: the legendary cyclist who became East Berlin's most wanted man; the tunneller who had already served four years in the East German gulag; the Stasi informer who betrays the 'CBS tunnel'; the young East Berliner who escapes with her baby, then marries one of the tunnellers; and an engineer who would later help build the tunnel under the English Channel.