Why a Booktrail?
1960s: Berlin is a unstable place to be
The Unfortunate Englishman
Why a Booktrail?
1960s: Berlin is a unstable place to be
What you need to know before your trail
Having shot someone in what he believed was self-defense in the chaos of 1963 Berlin, Wilderness finds himself locked up with little chance of escape. But an official pardon through his father-in-law Burne-Jones, a senior agent at MI6, means he is free to go–although forever in Burne-Jones’s service. His newest operation will take him back to Berlin, which is now the dividing line between the West and the Soviets. A backstory of innocence and intrigue unravels, one in which Wilderness is in and out of Berlin and Vienna like a jack-in-the-box. When the Russians started building the Berlin wall in 1961, two unfortunate Englishmen were trapped on opposite sides. Geoffrey Masefield in the Lubyanka, and Bernard Alleyn (alias KGB Captain Leonid Liubimov) in Wormwood Scrubs. In 1965 there is a new plan.
To exchange the prisoners, a swap upon Berlin’s bridge of spies. But, as ever, Joe has something on the side, just to make it interesting, just to make it profitable.
Locations
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Berlin 1960s
Berlin’s bridge of spies
This famous Iron bridge dates back to 1907, and is known for its use as an exchange point for spies during the Cold War. This was an iconic bridge and meeting point for many during the war and was very well known in spy circles.
Berlin’s history of spies
This is a story of spies in the Cold War era. As a result the city is dry and cold, an iron bridge the place where a trade in secrets and spies takes place. In a city where a wall has gone up creating a new East and West, more secrets now hide on both sides of the wall, and on both sides of the political divide.
Streetview Maps
A) Berlin - Checkpoint Charlie
D) Berlin - The Bridge of Spies
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Unfortunate Englishman
Destination: Berlin Author/Guide: John Lawton Departure Time: 1960s
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