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9 November 1989. The fall of the Berlin Wall
A symbol of the Cold War, its collapse heralded a new era in European history and launched a journey full of immeasurable challenges for the people of east and west Germany. In the ten years that have followed, much has changed in Germany, from the rise of Helmut Kohl as Europe's leading statesman to the return of the government to Berlin, the city that symbolises the nation's greatest triumphs and defeats. The Germans first met with scepticism and mistrust abroad as they hurtled towards reunification, then concern as they struggled to adjust to their new state. But they came through the difficult decade as a stable democracy and reliable ally, one that shed the shackles of the post-war period without breaking its bonds to the European Union, NATO and its Western partners.
Unchained Eagle is the story of Germany, from events leading up to the unification of east and west to the government's move to Berlin and Kohl's disgrace over his illegal slush funds. It looks at the challenges that have faced the nation - defining its military role, integrating eastern Germany, fighting neo-Nazis and establishing a German stamp on the European Union - and assesses how it has met them. It reflects on the concerns and controversies over economic reform, European monetary union, remembering the Holocaust and shaping the new Germany. More importantly, it is the story of a country and its people, the events that have moulded a new European power and the faces that have rewritten history.
All this is portrayed with insight and understanding by Tom Heneghan, a long-time observer of German politics. He was in Berlin as the Wall fell and spent the next decade reporting at first hand on the changes that event brought about and the way the Germans - from Helmut Kohl to average citizens - responded to them.
Unchained Eagle is an authoritative account of the unification of two countries, the challenges they faced and the new and more confident Germany that emerged from the upheaval.
About the Author
Tom Heneghan took up his posting as Reuters Chief Correspondent for Germany in the spring of 1989 and was on the spot when the Berlin Wall fell that autumn. Over the next eight years, he travelled around the country covering the events and issues that make this book including following Helmut Kohl on foreign trips as far afield as Moscow, Tokyo and Denver. At the end of the NATO bombing campaign in 1999, he entered Kosovo with the Bundeswehr to report on the first German combat troops deployed abroad since World War Two.
Reviews
"A fine book rich in information and solid judgement. Tom Heneghan's description and analysis reflect the reality of post-reunification Germany. The 'Berlin Republic' is a normal state, with its strengths and its scandals. This book challenges non-German readers to put aside their suspicions and see the country as it is."- Alfred Grosser, French political science professor and author of Germany in Our Time and Deutschland in Europa
"Tom Heneghan is a consummate professional, a reporter's reporter. He writes lucidly and with forensic accuracy, lighting a path through the minefield of contradictions and prejudices that greeted the Germans' bid to re-unite as a nation and its stormy aftermath... Unchained Eagle is both an accomplished piece of detective work, and a gripping account of the greatest story of our time." - William Horsely, BBC European Affairs Correspondent
"Tom Heneghan has succeeded in giving a fair and thorough analysis of an epochal change that has led to a new perception of Germany's role in the decade since the fall of the Berlin Wall. His first-hand account and brilliant interpretation of events up to Helmut Kohl's fall from gr
