Anna Funder’s Samuel Johnson Prize-winning Stasiland is an Australian classic, the definitive account of tyranny and resistance in the former East Germany.
WINNER OF THE BBC FOUR SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE
‘Fascinating, entertaining, hilarious, horrifying and very important.’ Tom Hanks
‘Exhilirating … The kind of book that makes us love non-fiction.’ Helen Garner
‘Unforgettable.’ The Sydney Morning Herald
‘Brilliant … a masterpiece.’ Sunday Times
Truth can be stranger – and more heartbreaking and hilarious – than fiction.
In this now classic work, Funder tells extraordinary stories from the most perfected surveillance state of all time, the former East Germany. She meets Miriam, condemned as an enemy of the state at sixteen, and Frau Paul, for whom the Berlin Wall ‘went through my heart’. She drinks with the legendary ‘Mik Jegger’ of the East, once declared by the authorities to ‘no longer exist’. And she meets ex-Stasi – men who spied on their families and friends – still loyal to the deposed regime as they await the next revolution.
Stasiland is a brilliant, timeless portrait of a Kafkaesque world as gripping as any thriller. In a world of total surveillance, its celebration of human conscience and courage is as potent as ever.
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‘Stasiland demonstrates that great, original reporting is still possible … A heartbreaking beautifully written book. A classic for sure.’ Claire Tomalin, The Guardian UK
‘Colourful, intensely observed, well executed, with lots of black humor and disturbing undertones.’ Kirkus Reviews
‘Filtered through Funder’s own keen perspective, these dramatic tales highlight the courage that ordinary people can display in torturous circumstances.’ Publishers Weekly
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Imprint: Penguin Books AU
Publication date: 01/04/2025
Stasiland
By Anna Funder
Review by Claude
Stasiland is a phenomenal read with a unique approach to one of history's best chronicled hermit states. By seeking out those closest to the weapons of power through intimate and often confronting interviews, Funder demonstrates the kind of dedication and attention to detail any journalist ought to aspire to. This really feels like a wholehearted attempt to convey the multilayered and lasting impact of a country’s whose survival depended on the imprisonment, manipulation and torture of its people. In the years I've spent fascinated by the DDR I've never come across any material as powerful and human as this.
