*WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2024* A gripping reconstruction of the
daring escape to freedom of hundreds of East Germans in the summer of 1989 - and how it led to
the fall of the Berlin Wall. 'Exhilarating' Observer 'Intensely moving' Sunday Times
'Engrossing and dramatic' William Boyd In August 1989 a group of activists did the
unthinkable: they entered the forbidden militarised zone of the Iron Curtain - and held a
picnic. On wisps of rumour thousands of East German 'holiday-makers' had made their way to the
border surveilled by lurking Stasi agents. The stage was set for the greatest border breach in
Cold War history. The fall of the Berlin Wall the end of the Soviet Union - the so-called end
of history - all would flow from what happened next. Drawing on dozens of original interviews
with those involved Matthew Longo reconstructs this world-shaping event and its tumultuous
aftermath. 'Beautifully written . . . The Picnic reads like a thriller' Peter Frankopan
'Revelatory . . . adds a new captivating chapter to the history of the Cold War' New Statesman
'Gripping . . . refreshingly fast-paced effortlessly moving the reader from one place and
moment to another' History Today ' Evoke[s] the dramatic events in vivid colour . . .
fascinating' Katja Hoyer Telegraph ***** 'A great story . . . this is history told from the
point of view of those who make it' Ben Rogers Times Literary Supplement *SHORTLISTED FOR
THE HISTORICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION NON-FICTION CROWN*
