Tunnel 29

Chronicle of an extraordinary escape under the Berlin Wall.

"A daring and thrilling story, and a magnificent description of life in Berlin during the early days of the Wall."
The Observer

Built in 1961 to prevent the exodus of citizens from the German Democratic Republic to the Allied sector of the city, the Berlin Wall witnessed numerous frustrated attempts that cost those who tried to cross it imprisonment, and even their lives, becoming a universal symbol of the opprobrious impotence of a totalitarian regime. Based on countless hours of interviews with survivors and thousands of documents from the Stasi archives, Helena Merriman meticulously reconstructs a page of recent history so astonishing that it far surpasses the best work of fiction.

The plan seemed to defy both common sense and geography: to build a tunnel to help East Germans escape beneath the so-called "death strip," the passage most heavily guarded by border guards and Alsatian shepherd dogs, and to do so in clay soil amidst water currents. However, in the summer of 1962, a group of brave diggers, led by the young engineering student Joachim Rudolph, who had managed to flee the GDR a year earlier, achieved the impossible: digging a narrow, one-hundred-and-thirty-five-meter-long gallery between a factory in the west and the basement of an abandoned building in the east. A feat that neither infiltrated agents nor Stasi spies could prevent, and which allowed twenty-nine people, including men, women, and children, to find freedom.

With a thrilling pace, typical of the best spy novels, Tunnel 29 is not only a detailed chronicle of German history from World War II to the divided Berlin era, but also a moving tale of love, loyalty, and betrayal.

Critics have said...
"In addition to being a gripping read, like a John le Carré novel, perhaps the great value of the book is portraying a world, that of the GDR, which has many echoes in today's world."
Ara

"Merriman effectively narrates the daily life of the diggers, the historical context of the Cold War, the construction of the Berlin Wall, and the escape in an exciting thriller that constitutes a masterclass in journalism. After reading Tunnel 29, it is inevitable to think of George Orwell and conclude that his 1984 is not a futuristic prediction of a totalitarian regime conveniently exaggerated to achieve greater impact on the reader."
El Debate

"A sensational work, more absorbing than any thriller. [...] Formidable."
The Times

"A book that grips you. [...] Perfectly structured, it does justice to the extraordinary bravery of its protagonists."
The Economist

"A remarkable, beautifully written, very rewarding account."
BBC History Magazine

"A dazzling reconstruction of a courageous escape from a repressive regime."
Kirkus Reviews

"Captivating, chilling. [...] A remarkable chronicle of what happens when people lose their freedom."
New York Journal of Books

"A combination that works: a protagonist brimming with energy, intrigue, spies, deception, and a divided love. The result: Tunnel 29 stands comparison with the best Cold War spy thrillers."
Sunday Business Post