1989!
1989!

Summary/Abstract: It is no surprise that the 20th anniversary of the events of 1989 has further laden the shelf that was already sagging under the weight of books about the year that ended the “short 20th century”. Should we include also the unification of Germany and the breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1990–1991, it would be more appropriate to speak of the three years that ended the 20th century. Books on the anniversary of 1989 include retrospective journalists’ notes with a fresh personal outlook and remarkable detail (Victor Sebestyen, György Dalos, Michael Meyer and Michel Meyer), courageous essays on the topic of historical interpretation (Stephen Kotkin and Konstantin Pleshakov) and original academic works which draw on the archival sources as well oral history (Mary Elise Sarotte and an anthology edited by Jeffrey Engel). I cannot review each of them individually. Please don’t take it as a critique of any of these authors when I say that I eventually came to dream of another book: a global, synthetic history of the year 1989 that yet has to be written.

• Details
• Contents