{"product_id":"the-picnic-an-escape-to-freedom-and-the-collapse-of-the-iron-curtain","title":"The Picnic: An Escape to Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA gripping reconstruction of the daring escape to freedom of hundreds of East Germans in the summer of 1989 - and how it led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Beautifully written . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Picnic\u003c\/i\u003e reads like a thriller'\u003c\/b\u003e Peter Frankopan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Exhilarating' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Intensely moving' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Engrossing and dramatic' \u003c\/b\u003eWilliam Boyd\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn August 1989, a group of activists did the unthinkable: they entered the forbidden militarised zone of the Iron Curtain - and held a picnic. On wisps of rumour, thousands of East German 'holiday-makers' had made their way to the border, surveilled by lurking Stasi agents. The stage was set for the greatest border breach in Cold War history. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Soviet Union - the so-called end of history - all would flow from what happened next. Drawing on dozens of original interviews with those involved, Matthew Longo reconstructs this world-shaping event and its tumultuous aftermath.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Revelatory . . . adds a new, captivating chapter to the history of the Cold War'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Gripping . . . refreshingly fast-paced, effortlessly moving the reader from one place and moment to another'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eHistory Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e'\u003c\/i\u003eEvoke[s] the dramatic events in vivid colour . . . fascinating' \u003c\/b\u003eKatja Hoyer, \u003ci\u003eTelegraph \u003c\/i\u003e*****\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A great story . . . this is history told from the point of view of those who make it'\u003c\/b\u003e Ben Rogers, \u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2024*\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*SHORTLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION NON-FICTION CROWN*\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 320 pages | Published February 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":63926731178333,"sku":"9781529920987","price":16.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0978\/3459\/8749\/files\/9781529920987-L.jpg?v=1774005194","url":"https:\/\/www.thebookmark.ie\/products\/the-picnic-an-escape-to-freedom-and-the-collapse-of-the-iron-curtain","provider":"The Bookmark ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}