GERMANY'S OTHER HALF: I Journalist's Appraisal of East Germany

by Franz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 27, 1962

His 35 years as a reporter equip this German-born naturalized-American author with a good opinion of his own objectivity; he claims the truth of the story of conditions in East Germany lies in his own verdict (based upon a recent ten-day tour) even when he is substantially at variance with official American and West German government doctrine. He attacks ""overzealous propagandists"" for having isolated Western news media from a balanced picture, and proceeds to set the scales according to his own concepts. He cites basic information on area and population, natural resources and industrial plant, political and military structure (in which connection he names the USSR as ""the greatest military power in the world"" and the Soviet Army as ""the strongest in the world""), education, culture, and journalism. He analyzes the shipbuilding effort in terms of national flags flown on freighters, and relates the grasping acceptance of support from both Germany to tacit political indifference on the part of various African countries. He concludes that under present and projected circumstances ""reunification is improbable in the foreseeable future"", and warns that ""in the atomic age, there is no alternative to peaceful coexistence"".

Pub Date: Feb. 27, 1962

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Abelard-Schuman

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1962

Categories: NONFICTION