The Berlin Wall: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and a Showdown in the Heart of Europe

by Norman Gelb

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0880294965
• ISBN13: 9780880294966
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Dorset Press
• Length: 321 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Berlin Wall crisis.

Gelb was there in Berlin in 1961 when the Wall was first put up. He tells the initial crisis when Khrushchev gave Kennedy an ultimatum to give up West Berlin or face the consequences. Kennedy not only faced Khrushchev down but dug his feet in on access to Berlin. To counter the continued loss of German citizens from the GDR, a wall had to be built to keep the captive population from fleeing to the West. Thus the crisis of August 1961 where the East German Army and Police cordoned off West Berlin and built a barrier. This barrier was initially of barbed wire, and later concrete. Gelb does a great job of recreating the crisis. This is a wonderful, but dated read (copyright 1987). The crisis was one of the first of the Kennedy administration and it shows how Kennedy learned from the Bay of Pigs to get a coalition together to meet the Soviet, East German threat of a takeover of West Berlin. A good read.