Ch. Links Verlag – Rights Catalogue foreign rights spring 2010
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Ch. Links Verlag Schönhauser Allee 36 10435 Berlin Germany www.christoph-links-verlag.de [email protected] foreign rights spring 2010 How the East German secret police spied on Germany‘s best-known post-war writer
Kai Schlüter Guenter Grass in the Cross Hairs -- the Stasi Files A documentation and commentary by Günter Grass and contemporary witnesses »Put under surveillance for provocation« – so begins the Stasi file of writer Günter Grass, in August of 1961. The artist did not mince words when it came to his browbeaten literary colleague Uwe Johnson. Not long afterwards he criticized the construction of the Berlin Wall in an open letter. Ever since, the East German se- cret police did not let him out of their sights, gathering material on him and the Gruppe 47 and keeping him under surveillance on his visits to the GDR. The shado- wing finally ended in the fall of 1989. Kai Schlüter‘s investigation of the files reflects an -im portant piece of German-German history, revealing the often perilous paths of underground literary exchange between East and West, the tactical maneuvering of of- ficial cultural policy, and the mechanisms of surveil- lance. The Stasi files are rounded off by documents and photos as well as by detailed and sometimes corrective commentaries by Grass and his colleagues who were likewise implicated. »Grass was completely surrounded by spies when he came to the GDR. All his official interlocutors were 384 pages IMs, ›unofficial employees‹ (spies), all of them,« said ISBN 978-3-86153-567-6 Schlueter, who went through over 2,000 Stasi files to To be published: March 2010 compile his book.
Günter Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author and world-famous as the author of The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel).
Kai Schlüter was born in 1956; degree in German and social sciences from Göttingen; 1983 Ph.D.; 1983/84 practical training at the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung; 1984 – 86 radio journalist at Norddeutscher Rundfunk; since 1986 journalist at Ra- dio Bremen; ARD radio correspondent in Washington and London as well as mana- ging editor of Nordwestradio (RB/NDR), newly founded in 2001.
Ch. Links Verlag ∙ Schönhauser Allee 36 ∙ 10435 Berlin ∙ [email protected] foreign rights spring 2010
Volker Matthies Operation Magdala Punitive expedition in Ethiopia
Flexing European muscle in Africa In 1867, Great Britain mounted a collossal punitive expedition. A British-Indian army with 60,000 men and 30,000 pack animals landed in Ethiopia to advance on the mountain stronghold of Magdala, where Ethiopian emperor Theodore II was holding a number of British diplomats and European hos- tages, including some Germans and Swiss. The mi- litary operation was intended to free the detainees and restore England‘s prestige as the leading world power. Little known in Germany, »Operation Magdala,« with its enormous logistical planning, is an early example of the industrialization of war and the justification of military action as »humanitarian intervention.« Volker Matthies discusses the events leading up to the expedition, describes its dramatic course, and makes a critical assessment of the colonial enterprise‘s political and cultural consequences.
200 pages 70 illustrations ISBN 978-3-86153-572-0 To be published: March 2010
Volker Matthies was born in 1945; degree in political science, medieval and early modern history in Hamburg; specialization in peace and conflict studies; professor of political science at Hamburg University; co-editor for many years of Jahrbuch Dritte Welt; publications on peace and conflict studies as well as the Horn of Africa region.
Ch. Links Verlag ∙ Schönhauser Allee 36 ∙ 10435 Berlin ∙ [email protected] foreign rights spring 2010
Bernd Wulffen Germans in Argentina Two centuries of changing relations
On the 200th anniversary of Argentina‘s independence Germans have figured prominently in the history of Argentina ever since its founding in 1810. Initial ties were largely economic and military. Later, in the twentieth century, following the reign of Perón, the sheltering of former Nazis and military dictatorship, an intense exchange developed in the political, eco- nomic and culture domains. Germany is meanwhile the fourth largest trading partner of Argentina and one of its strongest European partners in coopera- tion, ahead of Spain. Bernd Wulffen, who was long active in Argentina as a diplomat, is married to an Argentinian, and now spends part of each year there, gives us an entertai- ning, anecdote-rich account of the varied and often venturesome activities of Germans in Argentina, wi- thout glossing over the more difficult periods in which relations between the two countries were strained.
260 pages 30 illustrations ISBN 978-3-86153-573-7 To be published: May 2010
Bernd Wulffen was born in 1940; degree in law, Romance languages and political science in Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Marburg; 1967 Ph.D., as of 1969 in the foreign service, 1970 – 91 in Buenos Aires, Mexico, Peking, etc.; 2001 – 05 German embassador to Cuba. Books published by Ch. Links Verlag: Ice Age in the Tropics. Embassador in Castro‘s Cuba, 2006; Cuba in Transition. From Fidel to Raúl Castro, 2008.
Ch. Links Verlag ∙ Schönhauser Allee 36 ∙ 10435 Berlin ∙ [email protected] foreign rights spring 2010
Dieter Schenk Cracow Castle The seat of power of Governor-General Hans Frank, 1939–1945
The residency of the »Butcher of Poland« Cracow Castle, the Wawel, where more than 30 Po- lish kings were crowned and laid to rest, is a natio- nal shrine to Poles. The Germans occupied the castle after the start of World War II and turned it into the nerve center of their newly created General Govern- ment. As Governor-General Hitler appointed former Reich Commissioner of Justice Hans Frank, who soon earned the nickname »King of Poland« thanks to his penchant for pomposity. Frank organized extravagant parties at the castle, entertaining Nazi VIPs and prominent artists of the Third Reich at luxurious formal dinners. At the same time, he looted Poland‘s art treasures and gave orders to ruthlessly exploit the country, to extermi- nate Poland‘s intelligentsia, and make preparations for the Holocaust. Dieter Schenk vividly portrays how Cracow Castle became the focal point of Nazi crimes in the General Government.
200 pages 180 illustrations ISBN 978-3-86153-575-1 To be published: May 2010
Dieter Schenk was born in 1937; police career; 1981 – 89 Chief of Detectives at Germany‘s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA); resigned from the BKA because of irreconcilable diffe- rences in issues of human rights; since 1993 research in Poland about Nazi Germany and since 1998 honorary professor at Łódz University; honorary citizen of the City of Gdansk. Publications include Hans Frank. Hitler‘s Top Lawyer and Governor-General (Frankfurt am Main 2006); BKA: Police Aid to Torture Regimes (Bonn 2008).
Ch. Links Verlag ∙ Schönhauser Allee 36 ∙ 10435 Berlin ∙ [email protected] foreign rights spring 2010
Ed Stuhler The Final Months of the GDR The government of de Maizière and its path to German unity
The dramatic road to German Unity The first free elections to the Volkskammer, the parliament of the GDR, were held on March 18, 1990. They would also be the last. Half a year later, the GDR ceased to exist. Ed Stuhler depicts the six months leading up to East Germany‘s joining the Federal Republic – and does so, for the first time, from the perspective of political actors in the East. He looks at the complicated formation of a new government, the influence of the West on sometimes politically inexperienced East German politicians, the tug-of-war for a just economic, currency and social union, and discussions about the right path to German unity. The volume is based on interviews conducted by documentary filmmakers Rainer Burmeister and Hans Sparschuh with most of the political decision- makers from the de Maizière government as well as parliamentary groups in the Volkskammer. Opposi- tion politicians also have their say.
248 pages 73 illustrations ISBN 978-3-86153-570-6 To be published: March 2010
Ed Stuhler was born in 1945; 1965 – 68 degree in chemical engineering in Magdeburg; 1973 – 78 degree in cultural studies and literature at Humboldt University in Berlin; as of 1976 editor at the »Haus für Kulturarbeit« in Berlin; since 1979 freelance writer. Song lyrics, radio features and book publications, incl. »Margot Honecker – A Biography« (Vienna 2003).
Ch. Links Verlag ∙ Schönhauser Allee 36 ∙ 10435 Berlin ∙ [email protected] foreign rights spring 2010
Alexander von Plato German Reunification – A Power Game in World Politics Bush, Kohl, Gorbachev and the record of internal talks
The standard work on the international backdrop of German reunification The reunification of Germany brought the end of the Cold War, sovereignty and democracy for the states of Eastern Europe, but also the expansion of NATO to the borders of the Soviet Union and a strengthening of American influence and hegemony in Europe. Were there any alternatives? Overcoming the mili- tary blocs of the postwar period instead of NATO expansion? Not Soviet troops alone withdrawing, but the concomitant withdrawal of American troops from Central Europe? Alexander von Plato provides concise answers by analyzing the policies of the participating states. »Alexander von Plato‘s book is a comprehensive, material-rich and solid portrayal of the process of German reunification. Its analysis of historical do- cuments shows how utterly varied the reception and evaluation of political processes was.« Süddeutsche Zeitung
488 pages 3rd edition ISBN 978-3-86153-585-0 Published: February 2010
Dr. Alexander von Plato was born in 1942, university in Berlin, 1973 Ph.D., 1980 – 1983 research assistant at Essen University under Lutz Niethammer, 1983 move to the Open Uni- versity of Hagen, 1988 co-founder of Zeitschrift für Biograhieforschung und Oral History BIOS, 1993 founding director of the Institute for History and Biography at the Open Univer- sity of Hagen. 1996 cooperation in establishing the International Oral History Association. Numerous publications and films on contemporary history.
Ch. Links Verlag ∙ Schönhauser Allee 36 ∙ 10435 Berlin ∙ [email protected] foreign rights spring 2010
Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk, Stefan Wolle Red Star Over Germany Soviet troops in the GDR
Soviet troops, three times stronger than the National People‘s Army of the GDR, were stationed on German soil for five decades. On the frontier between East and West, these elite units had medium-range nuclear missiles at their disposal and were on stand- by for offensive military action against the Federal Republic. The authors of this book document not only politi- cal and military developments from 1945 to 1994, but also depict the inner workings of Soviet bar- racks and screened-off »Russian towns,« as well as the often conflict-ridden coexistence of Soviet troops and the East German populace. A wealth of photos, statistics and reproductions round off this unique overview. »Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk and Stefan Wolle have presented a volume full of spectacular individual accounts while never losing the red thread: the effects and consequences of stationing Soviet troops in the GDR.« Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 256 pages 80 illustrations Second edition ISBN 978-3-86153-584-3 To be published: March 2010
Dr. Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk was born in 1967, 1990 – 95 degree in history, 1995–98 member of the truth commission »Overcoming the Consequences of the SED Dictatorship in the Process of German Unity,« 1998 – 2000 staff member of the Federal Foundation for the Reconciliation of the SED Dictatorship, since 2002 research assistant at the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives. Dr. Stefan Wolle was born in 1950, studied history at Humboldt University in East Berlin, expelled from university in 1972 for political reasons, subsequently employed as a production worker, Ph.D. in 1984, 1990 member of the Committee for the Dissoluti- on of the State Security Apparatus, 1991 – 1996 teaching assistant at Humboldt Univer- sity, 1996 – 1998 fellow of the German Research Foundation, 1998 – 2000 consultant to the Federal Foundation for the Reconciliation of the SED Dictatorship, since then a freelance writer. Ch. Links Verlag ∙ Schönhauser Allee 36 ∙ 10435 Berlin ∙ [email protected] foreign rights spring 2010
Julian-André Finke Guardian of the Air? The East German air force in the active-duty system of the Warsaw Pact
Volume 18 of the series »Military History of the GDR« Air combat forces played a key role in Cold War military planning on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Central European states in particular felt compelled, due to the possibility of a nuclear air strike, to organize their air defense systems on a supranational level within their respective alliances. The GDR, located as it was on the seam of rival blocs, was affected in a unique way. Julian-André Finke describes the integration of the East German air force into the air-defense system of the Warsaw Pact, also analyzing to what degree the political and military leaders of the GDR regime had a hand in organizing the alliance‘s air defenses on their territory and to what extent it was under Soviet hegemony.
408 pages 34 illustrations ISBN 978-3-86153-580-5 To be published: March 2010
Julian-André Finke was born in 1981; joined the German Bundeswehr in 2000, officer trai- ning; 2001 – 04 degree in history and social sciences from the Bundeswehr University in Ham- burg; 2004 – 08 research assistant at the Military History Research Institute (MGFA) in Pots- dam; 2009 Ph.D. from the University of Bonn; since 2009 associate professor at the Bundeswehr University in Munich.
Ch. Links Verlag ∙ Schönhauser Allee 36 ∙ 10435 Berlin ∙ [email protected] foreign rights spring 2010
Ch. Links Verlag »Ch. Links Verlag – a trusted name in the German publishing industry.« Die Welt
The Ch. Links Team back row (from left): Martin Kaule (Webmaster), Dr. Stephan Lahrem (Editor), Benjamin Liebhäuser (Sales Manager, Marketing), Daniela Rust-Kirsch (Production Assistance), Maria Oehlschlegel (Rights Manager), Dr. Christoph Links (Publisher)
front row: Nadja Caspar (Event Manager), Kerstin Ortscheid (Finances), Edda Fensch (Publi- city and Promotion Manager), Susanne Heerdegen (Production Manager)
Censorship in East Germany was abolished on December 1, 1989. This was the green light for Christoph Links, an employee at East German publishing house Aufbau-Verlag at the time, to esta- blish an independent non-fiction publishing company for politics and contemporary history. Since then he has brought out some 565 titles, his three-man staff has grown to ten, while the subject matter of his books, invariably weighing in on current events, has likewise expanded. Literary jour- nalism, country studies, historical travel guides, coffee-tables books with accompanying texts on distinctive locations in German history, books about German colonial history, even e-books can be found in his Spring 2010 publisher’s catalog, the 40th to date. Best and long sellers include Chronik der Wende (Chronicle of the Wende) and Chronik des Mauer- falls (Chronicle of the Fall of the Wall) (12th edition forthcoming), Dunkle Welten. Bunker, Tunnel und Gewölbe unter Berlin (Dark Worlds. Bunkers, Tunnels and Vaults beneath Berlin) (9th edition forthcoming) or Die Grenze. Ein deutsches Bauwerk (The Border. A German Construction) (7th edition).
For further information please contact: Maria Oehlschlegel, Rights Manager: [email protected] Christoph Links, Publisher: [email protected]
Ch. Links Verlag phone: + 49 (0) 30 - 440 232-0 Schönhauser Allee 36 fax: + 49 (0) 30 - 440 232-29 10435 Berlin www.christoph-links-verlag.de Germany