PWPL Nonfiction Book Discussion

Please join us for a discussion of Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Iain MacGregor on Wednesday November 4th at 7:30 p.m.

Checkpoint Charlie is the story of the men and women - from both sides of the Cold War's political divide - who lived, served on, or escaped through the Berlin Wall during its life span. This physical monstrosity was created by the East German communist state to divide one of the most beautiful cities of the world; dividing families, friends and lovers. Its creation, and its sudden collapse twenty-seven years later, were the key moments of the Cold War. Checkpoint Charlie was the one place in a paranoid continent where East faced West across one hundred yards of No Man's Land. Where soldiers served, spies watched through trained binoculars, escapees fled, politicians made speeches, people died and, mothers wept. Historian Iain MacGregor travels to America, Britain, Germany and France to talk to the many people the Berlin Wall affected and who found themselves at the gates of Checkpoint Charlie. He interviews soldiers, politicians, journalists, spies, policemen, refugees and escapees to build a picture of what life was like in the city that was universally seen as the "hot spot" of the Cold War for four decades.

Copies of the book are available on Libby and may also be reserved for curbside pickup at the library.

Connect via the [Zoom App](https://us02web.zoom.us/) or Dial in by your location +1 646 558 8656

Meeting ID: 835 9764 4587

Passcode: 11050