The Picnic: An Escape to Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain

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A dramatic and intensely moving reconstruction of the greatest border breach in Cold War history and its tumultuous aftermath.

In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists did the unthinkable: they entered the forbidden militarised zone of the Iron Curtain - and held a picnic.

Word had spread of what was going to happen. On wisps of rumour, thousands of East German 'holiday-makers' had made their way to the border between Hungary and Austria, awaiting an opportunity, fearing prison, surveilled by lurking Stasi agents. The stage was set for the greatest border breach in Cold War history: that day hundreds would cross from the Communist East to the longed-for freedom of the West. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Soviet Union - the so-called end of history - all would flow from those dramatic hours.

Drawing on dozens of original interviews with those involved - activists and border guards, escapees and secret police, as well as the last Communist prime minister of Hungary - Matthew Longo reconstructs this world-shaping event and its tumultuous aftermath. Freedom had been won but parents had been abandoned and families divided. Love affairs faltered and new lives had to be built from scratch.

The Picnic is the story of a moment when the tide of history turned. It shows how freedom can be both dream and disillusionment, and how all we take for granted can vanish in an instant.

Reviews

Full of insight and empathy, The Picnic is beautifully written and ingeniously plotted. Like all the best books about the past, it brings the present compellingly to life -- Patrick McGuinness
A fascinating reconstruction of the extraordinary moment in 1989 when the spontaneous actions and inactions of a few individuals made history swing wide open on its hinges -- Philip Gourevitch
Exhilarating . . . A gem of a book, filled with timely and compelling insights into the power of ordinary people -- Clarissa Ward, author ofOn All Fronts
A compelling, poignant, beautifully textured retelling of the collapse of communism culminating in a heartfelt rethinking of the meaning of 1989 for the world today -- Stephen Holmes, coauthor ofThe Light that Failed
Matthew Longo's writing reanimates the heady days of freedom of 1989 and reflects on what was missed in that extraordinary year -- Samuel Moyn, author ofHumane

Author Bio

Matthew Longo is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Leiden University and the award-winning author of The Politics of Borders. He lives in The Netherlands.