Book Talk: Mary Elise Sarotte on The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall

Free. Reservations are not required.

Twenty-five years ago this November, massive crowds surged unexpectedly toward the Berlin Wall. They were drawn by an announcement that caught the world by surprise. East Germans were now free to move to the West. The Wall, infamous symbol of divided Cold War Europe. seemed to be falling. But the opening of the gates that night was not planned by the East German ruling regime, nor was it the result of a bargain between either Ronald Reagan or George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It was an accident. Professor Sarotte reveals how separate decisions made by daring underground revolutionaries, disgruntled Stasi officers, and dictatorial party bosses sparked an unexpected series events culminating in the Wall’s chaotic fall.