Author Description

"There is by now a very familiar received narrative of German reunification, one that began to coalesce immediately upon the fall of the Berlin Wall. Even before the files of most of the state offices, the foreign ministers, and the secret services were opened, television productions, radios, and newspapers, began painting a picture of reunification and the end of the Cold War in which the people of the GDR, as part of a movement for citizens' rights, and with the support of the 'master strategist' Gorbachev, in a short time achieved its freedom and joined with West Germany to form a new republic with a bright future. The historical and contemporary truth is, of course, much more complex and elusive. This carefully researched history draws on archival sources as well as a wealth of new interviews with on-the-ground activists, political actors, international figures, and others to move beyond the narratives--both the German and American varieties--that have dominated the historical memory of reunification. In the process, it addresses some fascinating lingering questions from 1989: What led the Soviet side to agree to the reunification of Germany and the membership of a united Germany in NATO? Was it promoting, as a condition for German unity, military neutrality and an overall European security system as an alternative to the expansion of NATO? Was the government of the FRG subjected to pressure from the Soviet side to decide between unity and its ties to the West? Did the American side rule this out? And what strategies did the West and East European governments ultimately pursue?"--