The Picnic - A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain

In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists organised a picnic on the border of Hungary and Austria. But this was not an ordinary picnic-it was located on the dangerous militarised frontier known as the Iron Curtain. Tacit permission from the highest state authorities could be revoked at any moment. On wisps of rumour, 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. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Soviet Union-the so-called end of history-all would flow from those dramatic hours. Drawing on exclusive interviews, Matthew Longo gives an invaluable account of historical change, and the disillusionment that followed, as emotionally powerful as it is revealing.

About the author

Matthew Longo is assistant professor of political science at Leiden University and award-winning author of The Politics of Borders: Sovereignty, Security, and the Citizen after 9/11. A native New Yorker, he lives in the Netherlands.

Summary

The gripping story of a collective passion for freedom that shook the world.

Product details

• Authors: Matthew Longo
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 07.11.2023
• EAN: 9780393540772
• ISBN: 978-0-393-54077-2
• No. of pages: 320
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 236 mm x 30 mm
• Weight: 545 g
• Illustrations: 14 illustrations
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Non-fiction book > History > Regional and national histories; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Freedom, Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000, Europe, European History, HISTORY / Europe / Austria & Hungary, Empires & historical states, Far-left political ideologies and movements, Socialism & left-of-centre democratic ideologies, Political control and freedoms, Political Control & Freedoms, The Cold War, Marxism & Communism, c 1945 to c 2000 (Post-war period), Austro-Hungarian Empire, c 1945 to c 1990 (the Cold War period), Cold wars and proxy conflicts, HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century / Cold War, Left-of-centre democratic ideologies and movements