The picnic: a rush for freedom and the collapse of Communism

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Longo, Matthew

Longo, Matthew

Green Road Community
Middle Creek Community
Morrisville Community
North Regional
Southeast Regional
Zebulon Community

Adult Non-Fiction

Green Road Community - Adult Non-Fiction
Middlecreek Community - Adult Non-Fiction
Morrisville Community - Adult Non-Fiction
North Regional - Adult Non-Fiction
Southeast Regional - Adult Non-Fiction
Zebulon Community - Adult Non-Fiction

"In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists organized a picnic on the border of Hungary and Austria. But this was not an ordinary picnic-it was located on the dangerous militarized frontier known as the Iron Curtain. Tacit permission from the highest state authorities could be revoked at any moment. On wisps of rumor, thousands of East German 'vacationers' packed Hungarian campgrounds, awaiting an opportunity, fearing prison, surveilled by lurking Stasi agents. The Pan-European Picnic set the stage for the greatest border breach in Cold War history: hundreds crossed from the Communist East to the longed-for freedom of the West. Drawing on dozens of original interviewsincluding Hungarian activists and border guards, East German refugees, Stasi secret police, and the last Communist prime minister of Hungary-Matthew Longo tells a gripping and revelatory tale of the unraveling of the Iron Curtain and the birth of new world order. Just a few months after the Picnic, the Berlin Wall fell, and the freedom for which the activists and refugees had abandoned their homes, risked imprisonment, sacrificed jobs, family, and friends, was suddenly available to everyone. But were they really free? And why, three decades since the Iron Curtain was torn down, have so many sought once again to build walls? Cinematically told, The Picnic recovers a time when it seemed possible for the world to change. With insight and panache, Longo explores the opportunities taken-and the opportunities we failed to take-in that pivotal moment"-- "In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists organized a picnic on the border of Hungary and Austria. But this was not an ordinary picnic-it was located on the dangerous militarized frontier known as the Iron Curtain. Tacit permission from the highest state authorities could be revoked at any moment. On wisps of rumor, thousands of East German 'vacationers' packed Hungarian campgrounds, awaiting an opportunity, fearing prison, surveilled by lurking Stasi agents. The Pan-European Picnic set the stage for the greatest border breach in Cold War history: hundreds crossed from the Communist East to the longed-for freedom of the West. Drawing on dozens of original interviews--including Hungarian activists and border guards, East German refugees, Stasi secret police, and the last Communist prime minister of Hungary--Matthew Longo tells a gripping and revelatory tale of the unraveling of the Iron Curtain and the birth of new world order. Just a few months after the Picnic, the Berlin Wall fell, and the freedom for which the activists and refugees had abandoned their homes, risked imprisonment, sacrificed jobs, family, and friends, was suddenly available to everyone. But were they really free? And why, three decades since the Iron Curtain was torn down, have so many sought once again to build walls? Cinematically told, The Picnic recovers a time when it seemed possible for the world to change. With insight and panache, Longo explores the opportunities taken-and the opportunities we failed to take-in that pivotal moment."--

Book

Books

325cff21-6804-6a3e-68d7-5f93613a7a24

9781324086321

2025-08-12T09:13:34.508Z

-1

Non Fiction

Non Fiction

947.084 LONGO

Year

Wake County Public Libraries

Green Road Community
Middle Creek Community
Morrisville Community
North Regional
Southeast Regional
Zebulon Community

9781324086321

2024

W.W. Norton & Company

grouped_work

Cold War
Communism -- Europe, Eastern -- History -- 20th century
Communism -- Social aspects -- Europe, Eastern -- History -- 20th century
Communist countries -- Politics and government
Communist countries -- Social conditions
Europe, Eastern -- Politics and government -- 1945-1989
Europe, Eastern -- Relations -- Soviet Union
Europe, Eastern -- Social conditions -- 20th century
Hungary -- Politics and government -- 1945-1989
Interviews
Nineteen eighty-nine, A.D
Political culture -- Europe, Eastern -- History -- 20th century
Political persecution -- Europe, Eastern -- History -- 20th century
Soviet Union -- Relations -- Europe, Eastern

The picnic : a rush for freedom and the collapse of Communism

The picnic: : a rush for freedom and the collapse of Communism / Matthew Longo

The picnic

a rush for freedom and the collapse of Communism

Cold War
Communism
History
Nineteen eighty-nine, A.D
Political culture
Political persecution
Politics and government
Relations
Social aspects
Social conditions