The Lives of East Germans - Katja Hoyer

If, like me, your idea of East Germany is dominated by spy movies and and you think that perhaps it was nothing more than a open air prison with the Stasi round every corner then Katja Hoyer's remarkable book Beyond the Wall is an ideal corrective. Katja blends personal tales (some happy and some utterly tragic) with an analysis of the wider geopolitical scene. Above all it is fantastically readable and unsurprisingly is on pretty much every 'book of the year' list in the newspapers. She was a great guest and I very much hope you will enjoy listening to her.