Blog this item

The File

By Timothy Garton Ash

(4)

| Hardcover | 9780002558235

Like The File?
Join aNobii to see if your friends read it, and discover similar books!

Book Description

"Eloquent, aware and scrupulous . . . a rich and instructive examination of the Cold War past." --The New York Times

In 1978 a romantic young Englishman took up residence in Berlin to see what that divided city could teach him about tyranny and freedom. Fifteen years later Timothy Garton Ash-Continue

Critics

The File by Timothy Garton Ash

The File is Timothy Garton Ash's compelling 1997 excavation of the Stasi and the people who came into contact with it. These include his younger self; for, as a student and journalist living and working in East Germany, he was placed under surveillan ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Fri, 24 Sep 2010

The File

When Timothy Garton Ash spent time living in East Berlin as a young man, he became the subject of the attentions of the Stasi. In 1992, after the fall of the Wall, Garton Ash was able to open the "cardboard time machine" of his Stasi file. The book t ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Fri, 24 Sep 2010

See all critics

2 Reviews

A terrific read for anyone who likes history, especially that of the Cold War, and does not mind a different sort of narration of it.
In this book, Garton Ash examines the file that the Stasi built on him between 1978 and 1989, which he was able to access after the fall of East Germany. I loved th ... (continue)

A terrific read for anyone who likes history, especially that of the Cold War, and does not mind a different sort of narration of it.
In this book, Garton Ash examines the file that the Stasi built on him between 1978 and 1989, which he was able to access after the fall of East Germany. I loved this book, because it is not only a (very good) history book, but it's also a reflection about memory and about human nature.
The author meets most of the people who either informed the Stasi on him during his stay in Germany, as well as the people who worked on his file, and reports how the meetings go. He also tells us about his life in Berlin in the late 70's, and what happened when he left. He does all this while sharing acute observations of how people look, talk and think while he is with them, as well as his reflections on the possible motives that brought them to inform on him.
I very much appreciated this unusual take on history, and the humanity with which Garton Ash observed and did not just blindly condemn, but tried to understand the deeds of the people around him. Recommended!

Is this helpful?

natalia said on Oct 9, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

In the 1980’s Mr. Garton Ash lived in both East and West Berlin to do research about pre-war Germany. As such he was an object of interest of the Stasi. After the evaporation of the German Democratic Republic, Mr. Garton Ash was one of the many people who requested to see their Stasi file.
In thi ... (continue)

In the 1980’s Mr. Garton Ash lived in both East and West Berlin to do research about pre-war Germany. As such he was an object of interest of the Stasi. After the evaporation of the German Democratic Republic, Mr. Garton Ash was one of the many people who requested to see their Stasi file.
In this book Mr. Garton Ash compares the data he finds in the file with his own diary. He mixes this with a description of Central Europe in that decade, with pressure from Western peace movements and Polish and other dissident movements like Solidarnosc. Plus he looks up some of the former Stasi workers and informers found in his file.
I found that the book was averagely interesting read. The “chilling portrait of treachery and compromise” promised on the cover had a limited impact, as Mr. Garton Ash was a foreign subject and could only be evicted from the country. It does vividly portray however the undistinguished character (or the banality) of the people involved, and how the “uninteresting” elements of a conversation were just what the Stasi was after.

Is this helpful?

Hermes said on Mar 23, 2010 | Add your feedback