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Title: fascinating account of the implosion of a state
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this excellent book on the collapse of East Germany. The description of what exactly went on in the different parts of the population and especially at Politburo level, using a wealth of recently opened sources, makes for fascinating reading. The dynamics of the rapid breakdown feel like an snowball tunging into an avalanche, leaving the leadership in total bewilderment and disarray. To the eternal credit of Gorbatsov, who made clear he would not support the DDR in military action, no bloody attempt to repression ensued, and so one of the most pervasive and controlled police states ever created melted away. It is also thought-provoking on the subject of what constitutes a state; it is essentially a psychological concept, and if enough people stop believing in that state, the state effectively stops functioning and exists no more.The whole story is better than fiction, it is reality. Highly recommended.
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