The Tunnels - By Greg Mitchell (Paperback Version)
The Tunnels by Greg
Mitchell is a book about escape tunnels that were built under the Berlin wall
during the Cold War. Though many tunnels
and tunnel escapes are looked at, the focus of the book is on one particular
tunnel that was funded by NBC in exchange for filming the construction of the
tunnel and any escapes that would happen by means of the tunnel.
I first picked this
book to review simply because I thought that it sounded rather interesting, I
didn't realize how absolutely riveting it would be. I started reading it to myself, got a little
way into it and then started reading it out loud to one of my sisters. By,
probably the middle of the book, several of my siblings were listening in with
fixed attention.
I have read this
book before, the hardcover version, and this is the paperback, which of course
isn't really different except for the cover.
But the content is as riveting as ever
This book is very
well written, Mitchell really seems to give one the perspective of the people
involved in these escapes so that you feel along with them as they attempt
their dangerous work. We all got pretty
tense with every tunnel escape attempt, and also with fears that their work
would be discovered by the clever West Berlin spies. It was very intriguing to find out how they
made these tunnels, starting them from West Berlin (the good side) they would
pick a building on the other side to aim for (sometimes without those who owned
the building being in the 'know') where they would then break through into a
cellar or even a living room. I found it
amazing that they were able to aim SO well.
They would work long periods of time, sometimes staying in the same
building for a month or more without coming out just to have more secrecy while
digging the tunnel. Then you have to wait and hope with the
tunnelers that there are no Stasi agents waiting for them when they break
through, and hope that all of the East Berliners who want to escape make it to
the tunnel without being caught. At
times there are Stasi agents waiting and you then hope that no one comes to the
tunnel to escape and get caught.
I learned a lot
about the Cold war and the Berlin Wall.
I found it fascinating that some of the government officials in the U.S.
were (amazingly) actually in favor of the Berlin wall being built(to the East
Berlin government's delight), thinking that it would calm things down…which of
course it didn't.
The book switches back and forth from
different perspective of various characters in this history, you will meet Harry Seidel, an East Berliner
who has already escaped to the West but who wants to get his mother out of the
East and therefore works on various tunnels, including the "NBC
Tunnel"; Piers Anderton of NBC is
another player in this history who really wants this documentary on the
"NBC Tunnel" to be a success (and also for it to actually be allowed
to be shown on tv); Siegfried Uhse is an
East Berlin informant who is working under cover with some of those who are
organizing escapes to West Berlin for desperate East Berliners, he is
attempting to get information about various tunnels so that he can pass it on
to his superiors and be the means of foiling any escape attempts; JFK is also a player in these events, he is
nervous that any open U.S. support of escape attempts will be the means of
provoking an invasion of West Berlin by the Russians, and so he is very wary of
any American news documentaries filming and aiding any escapes.
These are only a few
of the people involved in this account of this tense time in history.
I just wish that the
author would have dealt with Ronald Reagan's part in pressuring Gorbachev to
tear down the Berlin wall, I don't remember that being mentioned at all (though
I may have just for gotten it). Also There
were some topics that were rather uncomfortable to read, such as the immoral
lives of some of the people discussed and some pretty bad language and expressions that some people used. I scribbled out a bunch of those things.
But all in all, this
was a very interesting historical account. It's amazing to think that these
things actually happened, I thought that
Mitchell did a great job of impressing upon the reader the reality of these events
and people.
I received this book
from the Blogging For Books book review program (My review did not have to be
favorable)
This book may be purchased at Amazon.com
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