Erosion der Macht: Die Auflösung des Ministeriums für Staatssicherheit Berlin (Schriftenreihe des Berliner Landesbeauftragten für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen DDR)

Jenseits der üblichen Pfade erzählt Jens Schöne die Geschichte der DDR. Nicht nur Parteifunktionäre, Staatssicherheit und aktive Opposition gegen die illegitime SED-Herrschaft kommen zur Sprache, sondern auch alltägliche Situationen, kleinste Dörfer und ganz "normale" Leute.Von der Gründung des vermeintlichen "Arbeiter- und Bauernstaates" über den Volksaufstand von 1953 und den Mauerbau von 1961 spannt das reich illustrierte Buch den Bogen bis hin zur Friedlichen Revolution und zur deutsch-deutsche Vereinigung. Zudem wird gefragt, welcher Platz der DDR in der deutschen Geschichte zukommt.------------------------------Jens Schöne goes beyond the history of the GDR that has already been written. His book not only focuses on party officials, the Stasi and active opposition against the illegitimate SED regime, but also on everyday life, little villages and 'normal' people.This book, filled with photographs, covers everything from the foundation of the "workers' and peasants' state'", the people's uprising in 1953, the building of the Wall in 1961 right through to the Peaceful Revolution and German reunification. Furthermore, the book asks how the GDR will go down in German history.Originalausgabe auf Deutsch erscheint im September.

His call for Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall earned Ronald Reagan enormous and lasting popularity. But 1987 was by no means the first time that Reagan had set foot in the divided city. Indeed, he had previously traveled there in 1978 and 1982, and his appearance in 1987 would not be his last.In this essay, Jens Schöne explores the visits of the 40th President of the United States to Berlin. The historian investigates both the background and consequences of these events. Reagan's visit to East Berlin is analyzed just as critically as that of June 1982, which foreshadowed much of what was to cause global excitement five years later. It considers the mixed reactions among West Berlin's population as well as the East German Ministry for State Security, which naturally took a keen interest in events and attempted to influence them.