In this probing and wide-ranging account, Lothar Kettenacker considers the background behind the division of Germany and explains how the Berlin Wall and its death trap border proved to be the most horrendous manifestation of East-West antagonism. He also looks beyond 1990 to show how the confusion caused by the sudden collapse of the GDR and the fusion of two radically different economies is proving to be a challenge that will preoccupy Germany for generations to come.

Introduction. I. Division through Zoning. II. Cold War Confrontation. III. Ostpolitik: Putting the East at Ease. IV. A Precarious Relationship. V. The People's Revolution. VI. The Diplomatic Process. VII. An Expensive Take-Over Business. VIII. The Long Hangover. IX. A Crisis of Identity. X. Attempts at Explanation. APPENDIX. 1. Select Bibliography. 2. Chronology. 3. (Charts). 4. (Cartoons).

Lothar Kettenacker studied in Frankfurt, Munich and Oxford before spending most of his career in the UK, where he was Deputy Director of the German Historical Institute, London. His most recent book written in English is Germany Since 1945 (1997).