A gripping reconstruction of the escape to freedom of hundreds of East Germans in the summer of 1989 and its momentous, world-changing aftermath.

In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists did the unthinkable: they entered the forbidden militarised zone of the Iron Curtain - and held a picnic. Word had spread of what was going to happen. On wisps of rumour, thousands of East German 'holiday-makers' had made their way to the border between Hungary and Austria, awaiting an opportunity, fearing prison, surveilled by lurking Stasi agents. The stage was set for the greatest border breach in Cold War history. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Soviet Union - the so-called end of history - all would flow from what happened next. Drawing on dozens of original interviews with those involved - activists and border guards, escapees and secret police, as well as the last Communist prime minister of Hungary - Matthew Longo reconstructs this world-shaping event and its tumultuous aftermath.

- Browns Books Synopsis

George Orwell cared not only about what he wrote, but how he wrote it. His assessment of what makes for good writing – and bad writing – is as relevant today as it was in 1946, when his essay Why I Write was published. The following passage from Why I Write illuminates the central qualities The Orwell Prizes reward Political purpose, Clarity of expression, Intellectual courage, Critical thought and Artful writing.