The Wall Came Tumbling Down: The Berlin Wall and the Fall of Communism

by Jerry Bornstein

In words and evocative photographs, THE WALL CAME TUMBLING DOWN chronicles the history of the Berlin Wall, the events that led to its demise and the pro-democracy movement in Eastern Europe.

Includes an introduction by Chancellor Willy Brandt, 80 color photographs and 25 black-and-white-photographs.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

95 pages, Hardcover

First published March 14, 1990

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book when it was published in 1990, as a record of the events of the time. I have now re-read this book on the 25th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The books details the history of Berlin, the events that led to the wall being built, and the years when the wall existed and the differences in lives for those on west versus east. Those who lost their lives trying to escape are also memorialized. Then the events leading up to the end of the cold war, and the collapse of communism in eastern Europe are also detailed.

The photographs in this book, in both color and black & white, are fascinating to look at. I remember when the wall was torn down, I remember watching the celebrations on the news. I remember wondering what was to come. This book ends in the same way, with the words "No one knows exactly what the future will bring, except that it will be very different from the past, and we will be eyewitnesses to history and participants in what comes next."

An interesting historical book, that I am glad I purchased all those years ago.

[Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This thin coffee table book on the Berlin Wall came out only a few months after the wall came down, a few months before Germany re-unified, and about a year before the end of the Soviet Union. In that sense, The Wall Came Tumbling Down is kind of a time-capsule, capturing the 'what now,' feeling in the world as the Iron Curtain began lifting. For us, looking back on this period, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the re-unification of Germany, and the collapse of the Soviet Union seem to have happened almost simultaneously, so this book being published when it was is a good reminder that few saw the end of the USSR as inevitable, even with countries like Poland, Hungary and East Germany making rapid steps towards democratization. Towards the end of the book, Jerry Bornstein talks about the Soviet Union as if it's going to continue existing for the foreseeable future, and isn't even sure whether East and West Germany will re-unite, in spite of the absence of the Wall.

On one hand, the time capsule nature of the book makes it pretty cool to own, especially for a Berlin Wall/GDR buff like myself. It's also a great summary of the history of East Germany and the context in which it cut itself off from the West, and later, from the rest of the USSR. Bornstein contextualizes the GDR with other Soviet satellite nations and talks about the big grassroots democracy movements in Poland, Hungary and Romania that were happening concurrently with the East German movements. On the other hand, much of the info that we use to understand East Germany, the Wall, and the USSR was discovered only in the years following the Wall's collapse, so this book is unaware that, for instance, the East German officials didn't 'decide' to open the wall at a random press conference. Instead, Günter Schabowskitripped over his own words during a badly-prepared press statement and accidentally said the wall would open "immediately." Before he could clarify that the DDR was trying to use selective border crossings as a bargaining chip with the West, and as a way to attempt to mollify the incredible activist movement growing in East Germany. This book makes it seem like East German officials had a sudden spark of humanity, because at this point, people didn't know the full story. Books that would come out later, like "Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall" by Mary Elise Sarotte and "The Berlin Wall: A World Divided" by Frederick Taylor would correct the narrative. Likewise, the best photos of the Wall and East Germany hadn't made their way to daylight yet. Still, a lot of the photos in this book are great and cover full pages. 30 years after publication they still look really sharp and the colours are still vivid.

So, the content of the book is very basic and you could probably find ten-minute videos on YouTube that offer just as much context and visual flair as this book does. However, for Berlin Wall enthusiasts, this is a pretty cool snapshot of the elation, and uncertainty, that people felt after the Wall came down. If you're looking for a good entry-point to learning about life in the GDR and the wall, I'd recommend "Stasiland" by Anna Funder or "Collapse" by Mary Elise Sarotte. Those books are still in print, at least!

[John Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has magnificent pictures capturing an exciting time in the late 1980’s when communist countries fell like dynamos. The fairly brief text summarizes from the time the 28 mile Berlin Wall was created in August 1961 until it fell in 1989.

This thin book concisely reviews what happens after the war and especially when the Soviet Union tests the will of the United States during the Berlin through the downing of the wall. On November 4, 1989, a half million Germans protested on the streets of East Berlin, demanding change. Eastern Bloc country, one by one folded to the demands of democracy and a better life. People in the eastern European nations were moved by Gorbachev’s perestroika and demanded freedom to travel.

The book illustrates just part of the penalty of a wall separating the movement of people within one country. Some 5,000 people escaped despite of the wall, although mostly at the start of the creation of a more modest wall. Eighty died trying to move to freedom; all the names are in the book, with ages.

Poland, East Germany, Hungry, Czechoslovak, and Bulgaria all fold, fairly peacefully. All had different courses but the same direction. Only Rumania had true violence and thousands of deaths. Ironically, this was the one nation controlled by a dictator who was supported by the West because he signaled some independence from the Soviet Union by recognizing Israel, refusing to allow troops in his country, and speaking about Western ideals. Yet, his country was a mess and he was authoritarian. When the people marched to his office, they finally put him up on trail and executed him on Christmas Day.

Unfortunately, the downing of the hated wall that kept people in – and others out – isn’t the symbol it was as I grew up. People need to read books like this to have a more democratic vision of what could happen in other parts of this world.

[Nada · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pages within provide a basic summary of the events leading to the erection of the Berlin Wall as well as its downfall. The photographs provide a visual record to accompany the writing. Despite its brevity, the details stir up a range of emotion. The desperation people must have felt to escape the East and to risk their lives to reach the West is heartbreaking. The death of so many protesters, particularly when reforms were imminent, again, is heartbreaking. I'll never truly understand all that was involved in living under the regimes in the East but I now have a better appreciation of the many cities I am now able to visit and of the monuments erected to acknowledge the events of those life-changing and turbulent times.

[Amanda Witt · Rating 4 out of 5]

With my father being from Berlin I knew a lot about this event, this book filled in some of the gaps since I was just 12/13 when Communism collapsed