stasi and ddr/gdr

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Any good books on the stasi at all as really had my interest piqued after my trip to berlin

[Sebring440]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

Any good books on the stasi at all as really had my interest piqued after my trip to berlin

Your trip to Berlin?

What, did they arrest you?

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Well did end up in stasi prison. 😄

[Levin]

Sorry for the slow reply, but I'd recommend Stasiland by Anna Funder. It doesn't really get bogged down in the minutiae of life in the DDR or the Stasi, but is very readable. I don't have an awful lot of books on the Stasi but I'll double-check for others. Be warned, you might want to see Leipzig after reading the book - I certainly did.

Odd as it might seem, technology website The Verged did some decent coverage of the Stasi and their archives back in 2013.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/18/4743994/top-secr...
http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/19/4748618/even-the...

Depending on whether you'd be interested in films as well, The Lives of the Others and Goodbye Lenin may be of interest.

You didn't happen to try Vita-Cola when you were in Berlin, did you? It was the a big selling soft drink in East Germany so could have been a taste (quite literally!) of life on the other side of the Wall.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

No i didnt wish id known would have been nice to try! Will give those a go cheers!

[Levin]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

No i didnt wish id known would have been nice to try! Will give those a go cheers!

No worries mate, German history is a passion of mine so if I can be any use, just ask. On a PH-relevant note, Barkas, Wartburg and Trabant are three car manufacturers from that part of the world before borders were redrawn. A Trabant seems like criminally good fun, the others not so much.

[NoVetec]

For fiction, Stasi Child by David Young I found a good read.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Not a book but a film...The Lives Of Others. Well worth a viewing if you're into 80s East Germany.

[sjabrown]

Thanks to this thread I am thoroughly enjoying reading Stasiland by Anna Funder. It probably helps that I've been to Berlin a few times so can imagine the locations.

[Nom de ploom]

The Odessa files?

[Levin]

Nom de ploom said:

The Odessa files?

Sounds like a decent read, but does it tie into East Germany much? From the Wikipedia article it sounds more like it's based on Nazi hunting. I've never read any Forsyth but that might be a book for my own list. When it comes to ODESSA, the 'Werwolf' plan, and all the other interesting tidbits of history relating to the end of the Third Reich, I'm a total sucker for a decent read.

So thanks for that recommendation mate, seems like I might enjoy it. Even the OP might.

[arguti]

An interesting character to start with!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Wolf

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spymaster-Real-Life-Germa...