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The Berlin Tunnel - A Cold War Thriller
- Narrated by: Daniel F. Purcell
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
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The Berlin Tunnel - A Cold War Thriller
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Summary
Books, movies, and popular media have eulogized the major role that British breaking of the Enigma Code played in the winning of World War II. During the Cold War, a more monumental effort was made by America and her allies to intercept and exploit Russian and communist countries' communications. In the mid-1950s a tunnel was built by British MI-6 and the CIA, which tapped into a buried communications cable in East Berlin. They successfully intercepted and exploited East European and Russian communist communications for over a year. Suddenly, in 1956, the tunnel was “discovered” by the Russians, denying the allies this exceptionally valuable intelligence source.
This novel, The Berlin Tunnel, is a fictional account of how a second tunnel might have been built between East and West Berlin. It is a thriller which takes the listener into the super-secret world that the author occupied 50 years ago. Every scene in The Berlin Tunnel could have happened. The time - 1960-1961, and the place - the Divided City of Berlin, have been faithfully recreated using extensive research and the author’s personal experience.
Young American Air Force Captain Robert Kerr arrives in a divided Berlin awash with spies who move freely between the East and West. His task - build a top-secret tunnel under the river Spree into East Berlin - tap into highly classified communications links between civilian and military leaders in Russia and the Warsaw Pact countries. The knowledge gained from this source will help America’s leaders to manage an imminent confrontation between the East and West over Berlin, perhaps even prevent World War III. At all cost, knowledge that the tunnel is being built must be hidden from the Russian KGB and the East German Stasi, as well as our closest allies - the British and French. Only those involved in its construction can be allowed to know of the existence of the tunnel.
Love couldn’t have found him at a worse time.
Soon after he arrives, Robert falls for a German girl, Anna Fischer. It is spy verses spy as the dreaded East German Secret Police the Stasi use every means possible to determine what Robert and his construction crew are doing in Berlin. But it is Anna who is often caught in the crossfire between the Americans and the Stasi.
The conclusion of the novel centers around events that focus the attention of the world on Berlin. First, the Wall is closed, trapping 19 million East Germans including, Anna’s entire family, behind the Iron Curtain. A few months later, the world held its collective breath when the Berlin Crisis occured - High Noon at Checkpoint Charlie - the only time in the Cold War when Russian and American tanks faced each other. Robert and Anna are caught up in these momentous events as they try to free her family and survive in a very dangerous city.
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What listeners say about The Berlin Tunnel - A Cold War Thriller
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Clive
- 14-10-19
A fantastic listen
A great story from Roger, which I really enjoyed. The narration from Daniel was superb. I must investigate more from Roger and also Daniel
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Demetra Toula Iliopoulos
- 06-07-19
Let this history grab your attention
This is a great story of what happened after World World 2. When Germany was divided into two . When Russian put a stop to the tunnel so people can connect. Was there a second tunnel to connect when there was a man and a women was on the other side of the tunnel.
The narrator was great. His performance of this historical story was great His voice is strong clear and steady
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Julie
- 18-06-19
Sit down and tunnel into this book
This is a different book for me to listen to, as I tend to choose murder mystery books but I thought I would give it a go.
It started quite slowly but soon had me gripped as I wanted to find out what happened to Robert and Anna. Most of the story is told from Robert a American solider point of few with a few chapters from Anna's a German girl. The story was interesting enough to keep me listening until the end.
The story is about Robert and how he was hired to build a top secret under ground tunnel between East and West Berlin and how falling for a German girl complicated things, especially when he falls on the wrong side of the Stasis. Trying to keep things secret and everyone safe is hard enough when you are trying to stop a war but sometimes it is the ones on the inside that can bring it all crashing down.
The narrator was easy to listen to and did well to perform both American and German voices but I couldn't always tell who the different characters were.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alan
- 30-06-19
A good true story - but!
The book was spoiled for me by the very poor narration, the quality was so poor that at times I found it so annoying that I had to put the book down.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rayc
- 01-07-19
A deep and gripping espionage tale
The Berlin Tunnel. Superb it grabbed me in the first chapter and kept me turning pages.
Perhaps not what I would describe as a thriller more of a well crafted story which holds you to the end.
Narration is of a really high standard.
I believe that this is the authors first novel and look forward to more.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes espionage thrillers.
I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request and voluntarily leave this review.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Deb C
- 04-01-20
Not a favourite
I listened to most of this book but could not finish it. The dialogue is dry and uninteresting and the over zealous descriptions do my head in. My apologies to the narrator but I'm not sure anyone could get much out of this and I'm certain you tried. It is a shame because the story that hides in here is in itself a a get neat idea. It is the sort of thing you could almost imagine in that time and place. A great shame.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 14-04-20
Truly terrible. Couldn't finish it.
One dimensional characters and cliché ridden dialogue. No redeeming qualities.
If you are a Le Carre fan looking for similar this isn't it.
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