Iron Curtain

Patrick Wright is a writer with an interest in the cultural dimensions of modern life. He is the author of a number of highly acclaimed best-selling history books, including The Village that Died for England (1995) and Tank: the Progress of a Monstrous War Machine (2000), described by Simon Schama as 'a tour de force.' He has written for many magazines and newspapers, including the London Review of Books, the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Independent, and the Observer, and has made numerous documentaries on cultural themes for both BBC Radio 3 and 4. His television work includes The River, a four-part BBC2 series on the Thames. He is also a Professor at the Institute for Cultural Analysis at Nottingham Trent University, and a fellow of the London Consortium.

• Introduction: Paths Cross on the Jaroslaw Dabrowski ; PART I: CARRYING ON IN MISSOURI ; 1. Bullet's big day ; 2. In the name of the common people ; 3. Prophecy and hindsight ; PART II: FROM DRURY LANE TO THE THEATRE OF THE WEST (1914-1918) ; 4. First call ; 5. Dividing Europe's horizon ; 6. The Belgian variation ; 7. In defence of otherness ; PART III: WRAPPING RED RUSSIA (1917-20) ; 8. First delegation ; 9. Not just a frontier ; 10. Relocating the Allied blockade ; 11. Fact-finding with limousines ; PART IV: THE BROKEN INTERNATIONAL (1921-1927) ; 12. The view from Locarno ; 13. Snapshots from a land of contrasts ; 14. Comrade Bukharin's version ; PART V: STALIN'S RING OF TRUST (1927-1939) ; 15. No end to the Potemkin complex ; 16. Friends against famine ; 17. Steeled minds and the God that failed ; PART VI: SUCCESSION AND AFTERLIFE ; 18. Sliding back to Churchill ; 19. After the crossing ; Afterword: Gone with the Berlin Wall? ; Acknowledgements ; Appendix 1: 'Bach's Christmas Music in England and in Germany', by Vernon Lee ; Appendix 2: 'The Refreshment Room at Narva', by Charles Roden Buxton ; Notes ; Index

An insightful book about a formidable metaphor we thought we knew so well.