The Tunnels

Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill

By: Greg Mitchell

Narrated by: John Lee

A thrilling Cold War narrative of superpower showdowns, media suppression, and two escape tunnels beneath the Berlin Wall.

In the summer of 1962, the year after the rise of the Berlin Wall, a group of young West Germans risked prison, Stasi torture, and even death to liberate friends, lovers, and strangers in East Berlin by digging tunnels under the Wall. Then two U.S. television networks heard about the secret projects and raced to be first to document them from the inside. NBC and CBS funded two separate tunnels in return for the right to film the escapes, planning spectacular prime-time specials. President John F. Kennedy, however, was wary of anything that might spark a confrontation with the Soviets, having said, “A wall is better than a war,” and even confessing to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, “We don’t care about East Berlin.” JFK approved unprecedented maneuvers to quash both documentaries, testing the limits of a free press in an era of escalating nuclear tensions.

As Greg Mitchell’s riveting narrative unfolds, we meet extraordinary characters: the legendary cyclist who became East Germany’s top target for arrest; the Stasi informer who betrays the “CBS tunnel”; the American student who aided the escapes; an engineer who would later help build the tunnel under the English channel; and the young East Berliner who fled with her baby, then married one of the tunnelers. The Tunnels captures the chilling reach of the Stasi secret police as U.S. networks prepared to “pay for play” but were willing to cave to official pressure, the White House was eager to suppress historic coverage, and ordinary people in dire circumstances became subversive. The Tunnels is breaking history, a propulsive read whose themes still reverberate.

captivating

some parts had me on the edge of my seat . It WAS interesting as many of the people named are well known today

Just a little bit too long

Would you try another book from Greg Mitchell and/or John Lee?

Yes

Would you be willing to try another book from Greg Mitchell? Why or why not?

Yes. The book was well written and provided a solid history.

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

John Lee's reading was professional and done well.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Possibly

Any additional comments?

The book was good, and I enjoyed it, but I was definitely ready for it to end by the time I got to the last 3 or 4 chapters.

People risking their lives for freedom

A history we should never forget. Very alarming to know how many of their fellow citizens would turn into informants

The Tunnels

I really enjoyed this book about the tunnels and the people who dug them, in Berlin during the Cold War.

Amazing story - my era in history

The courage and strength of the tunnel diggers told the real story of the Wall. What amazed me is that there was no mention of Ronald Reagan’s speech made at the Wall in 1987. His “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!!” speech!! Why was this very important fact omitted? There is testament to the importance of Reagan’s speech and determination by virtue of the fact that a large piece of the wall stands in the gardens at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California..