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Chapters (46)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Maps
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. Chronology
  44. Historical Notes
  45. Acknowledgements
  46. THE BEGINNING
  • 11 March. The Soviet Union sweeps through Poland and into Berlin. With twelve million men under arms, the Soviets cut through the badly overextended German forces.
  • 18 November. Soviet forces land in Britain, moving slowly through the country to mop up German troops and sympathizers.
  • 29 December. United States troops, along with the remnants of Britain’s armed forces led by Churchill, land in Liverpool and quickly occupy the north of England, Wales and Scotland.

1946

  • 18 January. The Royal Family leave Canada for Scotland.
  • 8 June. An agreement is reached to divide the nation in two. There is a separate division of London. The Soviets declare the birth of the Republic of Great Britain, to be ruled by a committee chaired by Anthony Blunt.
  • 1 August. A fence is built to surround the DUK sector of London, soon to become a wall.

Historical Notes

For a detailed but readable history of the division of Berlin, Frederick Taylor’s The Berlin Wall takes you through the power-plays at a good pace. Or, for a description of the tragedies and absurdities of life on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, 1989: The Berlin Wall – My Part in Its Downfall, by British journalist Peter Millar, is an entertaining narrative of his time as the East Germany correspondent for the Sunday Times.

For insights into the workings of the secret police and, in the new world, how to address the past, Stasiland by Anna Funder is an affecting work. It details not only how the Stasi murdered peaceful citizens, but also how they regulated the smaller aspects of life, down to strictly controlling licences for typewriters and children’s printing sets.

Anthony Blunt died in disgrace in 1983. In 2009 the British Library revealed that it had had his handwritten memoirs since the year after his death, when they were deposited by a friend of Blunt. They are a fascinating document in which he claims that, while he had been recruited to spy for the Soviets for ideological reasons, in later life the reality of Soviet State Socialism had led him to reject it. He says that his treachery was the biggest mistake of his life and he had considered suicide in its aftermath.

Like the man, his handwriting is often hard to decipher. It is made up of sharp lines up and down. The curves are crushed. The vowels – the vehicles of emotion – are suppressed. All we really see is the underlying meaning.