Books about Cold War Germany
December 21, 2015 1:40 PM Subscribe
I've been really enjoying the tv series, Deutschland 83, and would like to read a book about the Cold War in Germany & Europe at the time (i.e early 80s). Can anyone recommend one?
I am particularly interested in the intelligence agencies ... so basically I want to read about spies. But real life spies!
I was a child at the time, and I live in NZ, so I'm not as au fait with the time & place in question, so the book should be fairly accessible. But that's not necessary!
Thanks in advance
I am particularly interested in the intelligence agencies ... so basically I want to read about spies. But real life spies!
I was a child at the time, and I live in NZ, so I'm not as au fait with the time & place in question, so the book should be fairly accessible. But that's not necessary!
Thanks in advance
Best answer: I'm not sure if you're looking for a history book or not, but a few years ago I read a great monograph dealing with Cold War East Germany and specifically, the Able Archer 83 exercise which is explored in the series. It's a surprisingly accessible history which explains the background and events which led up to the nuclear launch close call (ever listen to 99 Luftballoons and think it was just a catchy 80's tune? Not really - it was about Abel Archer).
The name of the monograph is The Cold War Conundrum: The 1983 Soviet War Scare. I had purchased it on Amazon originally so I checked there and it was sold out. To my surprise, I found a free, full text version of it on the CIA web page and you can access it at this link: https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/a-cold-war-conundrum/source.htm. It was a fascinating period of history and very interesting to read about how the Soviet Union and East Germany saw Ronald Reagen and our governmental system in general.
posted by juliathemechanic at 2:13 PM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
The name of the monograph is The Cold War Conundrum: The 1983 Soviet War Scare. I had purchased it on Amazon originally so I checked there and it was sold out. To my surprise, I found a free, full text version of it on the CIA web page and you can access it at this link: https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/a-cold-war-conundrum/source.htm. It was a fascinating period of history and very interesting to read about how the Soviet Union and East Germany saw Ronald Reagen and our governmental system in general.
posted by juliathemechanic at 2:13 PM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: ever listen to 99 Luftballoons and think it was just a catchy 80's tune? Not really - it was about Abel Archer
Considering the song was recorded one year before AA83, no. It plays, however on the same very real fears: a global war escalating from an innocuous incident - IIRC in the German version, a general mistakes a bunch of 99 balloons for a UFO, while in English someone releases the balloons and they are picked up by a missile warning system. On either, they sent fighters, which the other side sees as aggression, and so on.
That kind of makes the music even more chilling.
posted by lmfsilva at 2:48 PM on December 21, 2015
Considering the song was recorded one year before AA83, no. It plays, however on the same very real fears: a global war escalating from an innocuous incident - IIRC in the German version, a general mistakes a bunch of 99 balloons for a UFO, while in English someone releases the balloons and they are picked up by a missile warning system. On either, they sent fighters, which the other side sees as aggression, and so on.
That kind of makes the music even more chilling.
posted by lmfsilva at 2:48 PM on December 21, 2015
Best answer: Fictional, but gripping and very true to life in terms of the feel of the era is March Violets (first of the Berlin Noir trilogy) by Philip Kerr. Great noir-ish spy story, wonderful hard-boiled writing, although warning on graphic violence.
posted by eglenner at 1:16 AM on December 22, 2015
posted by eglenner at 1:16 AM on December 22, 2015
Response by poster: Thank you all very much! I will read ALL of these
posted by malpractice at 3:00 PM on December 22, 2015
posted by malpractice at 3:00 PM on December 22, 2015
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posted by roger ackroyd at 1:54 PM on December 21, 2015