"A mind-shaking work of investigative history". ("Wall Street Journal"). Checkpoint Charlie, 27 October 1961. At 9pm on a damp night, the "Cold War" reaches crisis point, US and Soviet tanks face off across the East-West divide, only yards apart. One mistake, one nervous soldier, could spring the tr[...]
In June 1961, Nikita Khrushchev called Berlin "the most dangerous place on earth." He knew what he was talking about. Much has been written about the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later, but the Berlin Crisis of 1961 was more decisive in shaping the Cold War-and more perilous. It was in that hot summe[...]