Forty Autumns: Nina Willner's Story of Courage and Survival Through a Family Divided by the Berlin Wall

Christine Boos: Very interesting insight into what it was like to live in East Germany after WWII up to the fall of Wall. Fascinating and well researched historical background which teaches one the value of freedom, particularly if you are deprived of it.

Germany on Sep 01, 2023

Lisa J. Shultz: I loved this book! I have been to Berlin 3 times. Twice before the wall came down, and once afterwards. Bringing to life the horrors of what that wall did by showing a divided family was very effective. History seemed quite accurate as far as I could tell.
I not only found the book of value, but I also gifted it to my daughter who is spending part of her summer there.

United States on Aug 12, 2023

Beverly Warren: The book arrived early, and it was in the condition as was expected.

United States on Jul 08, 2023

Retired, living on the coast: I first was interested in this book as my late husband ran US Army intelligence operations in Berlin; he retired from that post about a year before the author arrived as a junior intelligence officer. Her stories rang true. As harrowing as her family history was living through so much toil and oppression, it was her skill in writing it that made this memoir fresh and compelling.

United States on Mar 28, 2023

Boris Fritz: I could relate to this book because I was in the East German Labor revolt of 1953 in East Berlin. I was 6 years old traveling on the subway to West Berlin from the East with my mother on June 17. The train stopped in East Berlin with the announcement that they were on strike. Everyone off! We walked up the stairs and saw 2 Soviet soldiers with guns right next to us climbing into their tank. As we rounded the corner to go 1 block to the West Berlin border, there were thousands of workers on strike and the tank started going into the crowd. I was holding onto my mother as we made it to the border where West German police had put up sandbags across the street. We climbed over the sandbags into West Berlin just as the Russians in the tank started shooting into the crowd. I kept hearing the guns firing throughout the day. I remember the day also because June 17 was my fathers birthday - but this day I would never forget!

United States on Oct 01, 2022

Tom Rubens: Seen from the perspectives of members of four generations, this captivating memoir of a family torn apart by the division of Germany after WWII had me riveted from the first page to the last. I read it in two sittings, and I had to wipe splashes of tears off my glasses over and over again.

Reading history can be a dispassionate experience, particularly when done from a safe distance of time or geography. But to bear witness to the irreparable wounds inflicted upon innocent people provides a context from which there is no escape without empathy.

I knew very little about the circumstances around the breakup of Germany after the war, but now I am motivated to learn more. This book was a moving reminder of the power of a story well told.

This is not the work of a novelist or wordcrafter. This is a sparsely told story of perseverance, bravery, and the impact of a soul-crushing emasculation of an entire country at the hands of criminal despots allowed to rule without accountability.

United States on Sep 12, 2022

Bruce: A good summary of life in the East Zone before the wall came down.

Canada on Feb 14, 2022

Penny: Loved this book. Having relatives that lived through events in East Germany it hit a note with me. Did many trips as a young child to see my family. Our car was virtually dismantled to check it across the border. Remember sending care packages of food every Christmas. Don’t know if they arrived in tact. Most people in the West do not realize the hardships that are involved in living under communism.

Canada on Dec 25, 2021

Lynne: I have never read an account of how the people in East Germany lived during the Soviet occupation of their country before. This book is a page turner and an eye opener about what life was like behind the iron curtain. I enjoyed reading this book very much. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in history.

Canada on Oct 02, 2021

Geoff: A very interesting read about how the fortunes of a German family were affected by living in what became East Germany .The book gives a great insight into an extended living history from the end of World war 2 to after the fall of the Berlin wall and reintegration of Germany
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United Kingdom on Feb 04, 2021