Synopses & Reviews
“
Stasiland demonstrates that great, originalreporting is still possible. . . . A heartbreaking, beautifully written book. Aclassic.” —Claire Tomalin,
Guardian “Books ofthe Year”
AnnaFunder delivers a prize-winning and powerfully rendered account of theresistance against East Germanys communist dictatorship in these harrowing,personal tales of life behind the Iron Curtain—and, especially, of life underthe iron fist of the Stasi, East Germanys brutal state security force. In thetradition of Frederick Taylors The Berlin Wall andPhilip Gourevitchs WeWish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families, Funders Stasiland isa masterpiece of investigative reporting, written with novelistic vividness andthe compelling intensity of a universal, real-life story.
Synopsis
In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell; shortly afterwards the two Germanies reunited, and East Germany ceased to exist. In a country where the headquarters of the secret police can become a museum literally overnight and one in 50 East Germans were informing on their fellow citizens, there are thousands of captivating stories. Anna Funder tells extraordinary tales from the underbelly of the former East Germany. She meets Miriam, who as a 16-year-old might have started World War III; she visits the man who painted the line which became the Berlin Wall; and she gets drunk with the legendary Mik Jegger of the east, once declared by the authorities to his face to no longer to exist. Each enthralling story depicts what it's like to live in Berlin as the city knits itself back together--or fails to. This is a history full of emotion, attitude, and complexity.
Synopsis
"Stasiland demonstrates that great, original reporting is still possible. . . . A heartbreaking, beautifully written book. A classic." -- Claire Tomalin, Guardian "Books of the Year"
Winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction: a powerfully moving account of people who heroically resisted the communist dictatorship of East Germany, and of people who worked for its secret police, the Stasi.
Anna Funder delivers a prize-winning and powerfully rendered account of the resistance against East Germany's communist dictatorship in these harrowing, personal tales of life behind the Iron Curtain--and, especially, of life under the iron fist of the Stasi, East Germany's brutal state security force. In thetradition of Frederick Taylor's The Berlin Wall and Philip Gourevitch's We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families, Funder's Stasiland is a masterpiece of investigative reporting, written with novelistic vividness and the compelling intensity of a universal, real-life story.
Synopsis
In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell; shortly afterward the two Germanys reunited, and East Germany ceased to exist. Anna Funders bestselling Stasiland brings us extraordinary tales of real lives in the former East Germany. She meets Miriam, who tried to escape to West Berlin as a sixteen-year-old; hears the heartbreaking story of Frau Paul, who was separated from her baby by the Berlin Wall; and gets drunk with the legendary “Mik Jegger of the East,” once declared by the authorities—to his face—“no longer to exist.” And she meets the Stasi men themselves, still proud of their surveillance methods. Funders powerful account of that brutal world has become a contemporary classic.
About the Author
Anna Funder is an Australian writer who grew up in Melbourne. She has worked as an international lawyer specializing in human rights and constitutional law. She is the prizewinning author of Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall, which has been published in twenty countries and translated into sixteen languages. In 2004 Stasiland won the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize, the most prestigious nonfiction award in the United Kingdom. All That I Am is her first novel. Anna Funder lives in Brooklyn with her husband and children.