The picnic : a dream of freedom and the collapse of the Iron Curtain / Matthew Longo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Longo, Matthew, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Europe, Eastern--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Europe, Eastern.

Europe, Eastern--Relations--Soviet Union.

Soviet Union--Relations--Europe, Eastern.

Soviet Union.

Cold War.

Hungary--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Hungary.

Nineteen eighty-nine, A.D.

Europe, Eastern--Social conditions--20th century.

Communist countries--Politics and government.

Communist countries.

Communist countries--Social conditions.

Communism--Europe, Eastern--History--20th century.

Communism.

Communism--Social aspects--Europe, Eastern--History--20th century.

Political culture--Europe, Eastern--History--20th century.

Political culture.

Political persecution--Europe, Eastern--History--20th century.

Political persecution.

Genre:

interviews.

Interviews.

Physical Description:

xvi, 304 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : W.W. Norton & Company, [2024]

Summary:

"In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists organized a picnic on the border of Hungary and Austria. But this was not an ordinary picnic--it was located on the dangerous militarized frontier known as the Iron Curtain. Tacit permission from the highest state authorities could be revoked at any moment. On wisps of rumor, thousands of East German "vacationers" packed Hungarian campgrounds, awaiting an opportunity, fearing prison, surveilled by lurking Stasi agents. The Pan-European Picnic set the stage for the greatest border breach in Cold War history: hundreds crossed from the Communist East to the longed-for freedom of the West. Drawing on dozens of original interviews--including Hungarian activists and border guards, East German refugees, Stasi secret police, and the last Communist prime minister of Hungary--Matthew Longo tells a gripping and revelatory tale of the unraveling of the Iron Curtain and the birth of a new world order. Just a few months after the Picnic, the Berlin Wall fell, and the freedom for which the activists and refugees had abandoned their homes, risked imprisonment, sacrificed jobs, family, and friends, was suddenly available to everyone. But were they really free? And why, three decades since the Iron Curtain was torn down, have so many sought once again to build walls?"-- Provided by publisher.

Chronicles and examines the collective passion for freedom that shook the world toward the end of the Cold War.

Contents:

Prologue: Freedom's promise

Part I: Just kids

Part II: Europe's prison

Part III: Breach!

Part IV: The road to Berlin

Part V: Democracy now

Epilogue: Freedom's price.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 291-293) and index.

ISBN:

9780393540772

0393540774

OCLC:

1407118252