Bibliograph

The zookeepers' war, an incredible true story from the Cold War, J.W. Mohnhaupt ; translated by Shelley Frisch

Type

Label

The zookeepers' war, an incredible true story from the Cold War, J.W. Mohnhaupt ; translated by Shelley Frisch

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-248) and index

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The zookeepers' war

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

1126315794

Responsibility statement

J.W. Mohnhaupt ; translated by Shelley Frisch

Sub title

an incredible true story from the Cold War

Summary

Living in West Berlin in the 1960s often felt like living in a zoo, everyone packed together behind a wall, with the world always watching. On the other side of the Iron Curtain, the East Berlin zoo was spacious and lush, a socialist utopia where everything was perfectly planned...and then rarely successfully finished. Berlin;s two zoos quickly became symbols of the divided citys two halves. And so no one was terribly surprised when the head zookeepers on either side started an animal arms race rather than stockpiling nuclear warheads, competing to have the most pandas and hippos. Soon, state funds were being quietly diverted to give these new animals lavish welcomes worthy of visiting dignitaries. West German presidential candidates were talking about zoo policy on the campaign trail. And eventually politicians on both side of the Wall became convinced that if their zoo were proved to be inferior, then that would mean their countrys whole ideology was too

Table Of Contents

War and crocodile tail soup -- The zoo on the other side -- The fourth man -- Pandas and prestige -- The zoo of the future -- Big plans, little fish -- Golden times in the golden cage -- The gray giant comes tumbling down

Classification