The Berlin Wall: A World Divided - Hope M. Harrison

Category: History, Lecture
Language: English
Keywords: The Great Courses

Written by Hope M. Harrison
Read by Hope M. Harrison
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 32 Kbps

The Berlin Wall is perhaps modern history’s most infamous edifice.

For 28 years, it divided postwar Germany into communist-controlled east and democratic west. Then, in 1989, it collapsed—transforming a symbol of communist oppression into a potent emblem of freedom.

Why, and how, was the Berlin Wall constructed? How did Germans adapt to its presence or try to escape it? What political and social forces were responsible for its destruction? What still remains of the Berlin Wall, and how do today’s Germans grapple with its legacy?

The Berlin Wall: A World Divided is more than just the story of brick, concrete, and barbed wire. It’s the story of a city, a country, and a world—all of them divided. To hear how the Berlin Wall exemplified this division is to gain insights into a central tension of world history: between the human drive for freedom and the political will that would control and repress that drive. Drawing on years of research using former top-secret communist archives, Hope M. Harrison has crafted a riveting Audible Original that brings to life the political, social, and cultural history of the Berlin Wall. She shares the story of the millions of people who lived in its real shadow—and still live in its figurative one.