Checkpoint Charlie

The Cold War, the Berlin Wall, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

By: Iain MacGregor

Narrated by: Dugald Bruce Lockhart

A “constantly captivating…well-researched and often moving” (The Wall Street Journal) history of Checkpoint Charlie, the famous military gate on the border of East and West Berlin where the United States confronted the USSR during the Cold War.

In the early 1960s, East Germany committed a billion dollars to the creation of the Berlin Wall, an eleven-foot-high barrier that consisted of seventy-nine miles of fencing, 300 watchtowers, 250 guard dog runs, twenty bunkers, and was operated around the clock by guards who shot to kill. Over the next twenty-eight years, at least five thousand people attempt to smash through it, swim across it, tunnel under it, or fly over it.

In 1989, the East German leadership buckled in the face of a civil revolt that culminated in half a million East Berliners demanding an end to the ban on free movement. The world’s media flocked to capture the moment which, perhaps more than any other, signaled the end of the Cold War. Checkpoint Charlie had been the epicenter of global conflict for nearly three decades.

Now, “in capturing the essence of the old Cold War [MacGregor] may just have helped us to understand a bit more about the new one” (The Times, London)—the mistrust, oppression, paranoia, and fear that gripped the world throughout this period. Checkpoint Charlie is about the nerve-wracking confrontation between the West and USSR, highlighting such important global figures as Eisenhower, Stalin, JFK, Nikita Khrushchev, Mao Zedung, Nixon, Reagan, and other politicians of the period. He also includes never-before-heard interviews with the men who built and dismantled the Wall; children who crossed it; relatives and friends who lost loved ones trying to escape over it; military policemen and soldiers who guarded the checkpoints; CIA, MI6, and Stasi operatives who oversaw operations across its borders; politicians whose ambitions shaped it; journalists who recorded its story; and many more whose living memories contributed to the full story of Checkpoint Charlie.

Accurate history 

Very important turning point in history!
Accurate description of the difference between Russia s form of government aims In the goals of the United States, and the subtle nuances Among the three western  countries in alliance and how the Separation of The main players of world powers was forming during a crucial time in Global history 

Great listen…

For those who may have a hard time with the tempo of the narrator, I experienced a good result by setting the playback speed slightly slower. No appreciable lag sound and the reading seemed to be at a much more natural cadence.

Recorded too fast

This is a really good book, but they messed up the recording speed. When you listen, make sure to have it read at 0.9 speed and the reader's voice will be great.
As for the story, it reveals how turbulent the first few years of the Kennedy administration were. As a kid, I hardly knew any of this, and would love to have heard my parents thoughts during it.
It does a good job of giving you personal experiences, mixed with the historic story.

Great book

Dugald Bruce Lockhart voice made me get the book. I learned a lot from this book. I am ready to take a trip to Berlin to see all the history.

Hard to follow

This book isn’t bad by any means. The topic is always interesting. However it is hard to follow. From moment to moment a different story was being told...I think. I rewound over and over but still had the same problem with knowing who or what story was being told. Dugan Bruce Lockhart’s narration is good but a bit rushed. His rapid tone doesn’t help with trying to keep up with the story. I wonder if it might be easier to follow if one physically read it. What a most interesting time in history nonetheless.