Friendly Enemies Britain and the GDR, 1949-1990 [Hardcover]

During the Cold War, Britain had an astonishing number of contacts and connections with one of the Soviet Blocs most hard-line regimes: the German Democratic Republic. The left wing of the British Labour Party and the Trade Unions often had closer ties with communist East Germany than the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). There were strong connections between the East German and British churches, womens movements, and peace movements; influential conservative politicians and the Communist leadership in the GDR had working relationships; and lucrative contracts existed between business leaders in Britain and their counterparts in East Germany. Based on their extensive knowledge of the documentary sources, the authors provide the first comprehensive study of Anglo-East German relations in this surprisingly under-researched field. They examine the complex motivations underlying different political groups engagement with the GDR, and offer new and interesting insights into British political culture during the Cold War.

Readers will especially enjoy the information on individual British academics and journalists, who helped shape the field of East German studies both in the UK and U.S. Individuals such as David Childs, who took part in peace rallies, and Neil Ascherson, who was a foreign correspondent in Germany, stand out.? ??German Politics & Society

Berger and LaPorte perform a great service by disentangling the strands of the informal relations between the two countries, as well as clarifying how these connections intersected with official government policies.This book should remain the industry standard on this topic for some time. Berger and LaPorte have based their work on exhaustive research in British and German archives, conducted dozens of interviews, and culled relevant articles from nearly forty periodicals. Furthermore, they have consulted the most recent secondary literature on this subject ilƒd