Das dritte Buch über Achim

When Das dritte Buch über Achim (The Third Book About Achim) was published in September 1961 it became THE novel about the building of the Berlin Wall. It tells the story of a West German reporter’s attempt to write the biography of a GDR cycling idol and how he fails due to German-German differences. Johnson’s book is steeped in historical moments: it visualises the course of the border and paints a precise picture of both Germanys and the political events leading up to the year 1960.