Freedom Was Never Like This: A Winter's Journey in East Germany

The euphoric reunification of Germany is turning into an abysmal economic and social disaster for the former German Deomcratic Republic. Unemployment of 50 per cent is forecast. So is unrest, as the federal government in Bonn struggles with a spiralling crisis which is wildly underestimated. Carpetbaggers roam the land, property claims prevent redevelopment, cities are going broke and millions, recently so glad to swap Karl Marx for Deutschmarks, struggle to make ends meet in a land laid waste by pollution. The author of this book was in Berlin on Unification Day. Unfazed by a Third World telephone system and the Prussian roulette method of booking hotels, he visited east Berlin and every major region and city of the ex-GDR, from the Baltic to "Saxon Switzerland", from Weimar to Buchenwald. This resulting book is a travelogue that also includes a social, economic and political commentary, told via interviews and laced with observations of the Germans their history, customs and language. The author was the Bonn Correspondent for "The Times" newspaper for six years and is the chief leader write for "The Guardian". His books include "The Grand Scuttle", "The Last Corsair" and "The Atlantic Campaign".