Books in Brief
The Fall of the Berlin Wall by William F. Buckley Jr. (Wiley, 212 pp., $19.95). This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. And not to be missed amid the commemorations and celebrations is the new book in which William F. Buckley admits that though he had written occasionally about the divided city, “What I never did was reason fruitfully to what exactly would be required to bring the wall down. I am glad I did not attempt this, because I would not have been able to write with anything like the authority now made possible, thanks to the work of so many historians and journalists and diplomats who have told their stories.”
The Fall of the Berlin Wall is a comprehensive read, compellingly written. And it contains some details that have until now been forgotten. Everyone remembers John F. Kennedy’s speech at Rudolf Wilde Platz in 1963: “Freedom has many difficulties, and democracy is not perfect. But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.'” Yet few recall the stirring words of Nikita Khrushchev, who met with East German factory workers two days later: “But me, I like [the Berlin Wall]. It pleases me tremendously. The working class of Germany has erected a wall so that no wolf can break into the German Democratic Republic again. Is that bad?”
It wasn’t good, considering people were not trying to break in, but rather, break out. And risking their lives in the process–by digging tunnels or hiding in secret compartments in cars and trucks. One family went by hot-air balloon. Many others made a mad dash across a no-man’s-land that became more perilous each day. Some were fortunate. Others, like Peter Fechter, were not. The eighteen-year-old construction worker was shot while climbing the wall in 1962. He fell back in pain, crying for help. But the East German police just left him there, not firing a second shot or sending him medical assistance. They let him die a slow and painful death, later dragging his body away as West Berliners watched helplessly and in horror. This willingness to pay the ultimate price for freedom is something none of us should forget.
—Victorino Matus
Booknotes on American Character: People, Politics, and Conflict in American History, edited by Brian Lamb (PublicAffairs, 591 pp., $29.95). To illuminate the American disposition, Brian Lamb collects interviews with seventy-five writers who have appeared on C-SPAN’s Booknotes, the popular television show he hosts. Booknotes on American Character presents a mosaic of the national enterprise, in talks with authors who have written on American characters–from the prohibitionist Carry Nation to William Minor, the murderous and brilliant American contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Not every selection works. Michael Dyson’s disquisition on the political insights of rapper Tupac Shakur falls flat. Warren Zimmerman knows little about Francis Parkman, ascribing to the great historian the view that the British beat the French in North America due to “racial superiority.” Michael Moore supplies an introduction that’s sour and conspiratorial.
But along the way, several forgotten figures–Representative Walter Judd, inventor Philo Farnsworth, and pilot John Boyd–get their due. The “American Character” is, as Teddy Roosevelt once said, a combination of practicality, positivism, and idealism. Brian Lamb and his contributors provide a real service in putting so many fine American characters on display.
—Dan Dickinson
