"Eloquent, aware and scrupulous . . . a rich and instructive examination of the Cold War past." --The New York Times
In 1978 a rom... read full description
In 1978 a rom... read full description
reviews
Jan 23, 2011
Natalia Pì
rated it: 
A terrific read for anyone who likes history, especially that of the Cold War, and does not mind a different sort of narration of it.
In this book, Garton Ash examines the file that the Stasi built on him between 1978 and 1989, which he was able to access after the fall of East Germany. I loved this book, because it is not only a (very good) history book, but it's also a reflection about memory and about human nature.
The author meets most of the people who either informed the Stasi on h More...
In this book, Garton Ash examines the file that the Stasi built on him between 1978 and 1989, which he was able to access after the fall of East Germany. I loved this book, because it is not only a (very good) history book, but it's also a reflection about memory and about human nature.
The author meets most of the people who either informed the Stasi on h More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 15, 2009
Stephanie
rated it: 
Timothy Garton Ash's The File: A Personal History is an exploration of the author's own file that was kept on him by the East German secret police, the State Security Service, "the Stasi." Mr. Ash lived in East Berlin for a few years in the late 70s and early 80s, ostensibly to finish his Ph.D. thesis on the German Communist resistance to the Nazis (Mr. Ash, a British citizen, was getting his doctorate from St. Antony's College at Oxford), but actually to report, as a journalist, on t
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 08, 2010
Ebru
rated it:
Fantastic personal account of what it is like to read your Stasi file. Beautifully written, and a compelling mix of memoires and history, which brought me to tears during more then one passage.
"I place a compact disc in the computer's CD-drive, and click the 'play' button on screen. From a loudspeaker somewhere behind the text I have just typed there comes the voice of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, recorded in 1958, at the height of the Cold War, singing Schubert's great dark song More...
"I place a compact disc in the computer's CD-drive, and click the 'play' button on screen. From a loudspeaker somewhere behind the text I have just typed there comes the voice of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, recorded in 1958, at the height of the Cold War, singing Schubert's great dark song More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 08, 2009
Salina
rated it: 
- Confusing start with timeline, terms, names, places
- Improved when he talked about each person he went back to visit
- Thought I was educated and well-read, but some of the terms and references in the book made me feel quite ignorant - I felt like an intellectual light-weight
- Although it did not captivate me, it did help me understand why the informants did what they did and how ordinary people could get manipulated/corrupted and by extension how they could have their good More...
- Improved when he talked about each person he went back to visit
- Thought I was educated and well-read, but some of the terms and references in the book made me feel quite ignorant - I felt like an intellectual light-weight
- Although it did not captivate me, it did help me understand why the informants did what they did and how ordinary people could get manipulated/corrupted and by extension how they could have their good More...
Jul 30, 2011
Kurt
rated it:
That's right. I tagged this as "memoir" and "thriller." It's an unlikely combination, but then The File chronicles an unlikely moment in history. Not the police state of former East Germany. Police states are a dime a dozen. Nope, the unlikely bit is the moment in the mid-1990s when a newly re-unified Germany allowed everyone to apply to see the file that the East German secret police, the Stasi, kept on them.
For all that the KGB were designated by Hollywood as t More...
For all that the KGB were designated by Hollywood as t More...
Jun 11, 2008
Marie
rated it: 
Well, I made it to page 87, not quite halfway through, and decided to stop. I found myself wanting to be done with the book, which is never a good sign. I have too many books on my "to read" list to waste time on a book I'm not enjoying or finding interesting at least.
The book's premise was interesting: an English journalist and researcher who spent time in East and West Germany and Poland gets hold of his Stasi file after the Berlin Wall comes down. He compares the file to More...
The book's premise was interesting: an English journalist and researcher who spent time in East and West Germany and Poland gets hold of his Stasi file after the Berlin Wall comes down. He compares the file to More...
May 04, 2010
Tuck
rated it:
a classic for anyone interested in the cold war, east germany, stasi, polish solidarity, spies and intrigue, AND what it means to write history. match with "stasiland" by anna funder for a very insightful look into western madness.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 17, 2009
Guy
rated it:
A fascinating topic and well developed. Makes me want to see my own Stasi file (which I'm quite sure existed) from my own time in East Germany in the early 80s.
May 05, 2011
Neat exploration of some issues, but not particularly engaging. It was much more personal and memoirish than I expected it to be in the moment of "I need a book" desperation the night I pulled it off the shelf.
Nov 27, 2007
Maren
rated it:
I was enthralled by the Oscar winning German film The Lives of Others and discovered this slim book about the Stasi and their aftermath by Timothy Garton Ash. Ash was a British student in East Germany and after the fall of communism and the making public of the Stasi records he returns to Germany to read his own file and interview those individuals who informed on him. It is a striking exploration of a police state and how individuals justify their behavior after the fact. It is well-worth readi
More...
Oct 03, 2011
Katie
rated it:
Just one man's account at how pervasive the Stasi were in East Germany.
Sep 22, 2008
Ken
rated it:
The author uses big words and extra long sentences to try and prove how smart he is. He drops names of obscure writers and philosophers into the text assuming that everyone has heard of them. C'mon buddy. I'm reading this book to get an idea of how the Stasi worked in East Germany and how they affected your life personally. It's not to bone up on my obscure European writer trivia, that's for sure.
When he finally gets to the interviews with the former Stasi officers, I found the book More...
When he finally gets to the interviews with the former Stasi officers, I found the book More...
Apr 04, 2011
Dan
rated it:
An original book. Although some degree of bias is unavoidable, the author tries to objectively pursue all aspects of his file. I would like to be able to identify with the author...but when he talks about driving his Alfa Romeo into East Berlin...
A good narrative and a must read for anyone interested in the Stasi or East Germany in particular. If anything the author's active life is a nice motivation.
A good narrative and a must read for anyone interested in the Stasi or East Germany in particular. If anything the author's active life is a nice motivation.
Jan 26, 2010
Ryan
rated it:
I have a fascination with the former East Germany, so this book naturally took me. In the mid-nineties Garton Ash reads his file the Stasi kept on him. In an attempt to understand why acquaintances informed on him, Garton Ash confronts them. The book has its high points and low points, but is an good look at an country and system I find fascinating.
Apr 17, 2008
Tessa
rated it:
I felt that this could have used a little more clarity in regards to chronologically going through the file, for people with a loose history background like me. For that reason, it started out slow, but deals very well with the ambiguity of the subject and of the historical situation.
Dec 16, 2009
Eli
rated it:
Haunting and deeply morally insightful treatment of the mechanics of every day life in a police state, and its morally corrupting effect on its inhabitants.
Feb 10, 2012
Feb 08, 2012
Feb 04, 2012
Jan 25, 2012
Jan 25, 2012
Jan 23, 2012
