BOOK REVIEWS
Historical
The Race Against The Stasi
Herbie Sykes
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BOOK SYNOPSIS
When the Iron Curtain descended across Europe Dieter Wiedemann was a hero of East German sport. A podium finisher at the mythical Peace Race he became a symbol of socialism's superiority over the 'fascist' West.
in 1964 he was delegated to West Germany to ride an Olympic qualifier. Instead, he committed the most treacherous of all crimes against socialism. Dieter Wiedemann, sporting icon and Soviet pawn, defected. He would fulfil his lifetime ambition of riding the Tour de France but with horrific unthinkable consequences for himself and the family he left behind.
Twenty-Five years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Dieter Wiedemann decided it was time to tell his story. Through his testimony and through the Stasi file which stalked him for half a century, Herbie Sykes uncovers an astonishing tale. It is one of love and betrayal, of the madness at the heart of the Cold War and of the greatest bike race in history.
