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Despite being familiar with this story (having read The Tunnels by Greg Mitchell), I found this narrative quite exciting. This was primarily from the perspective of Joachim Rudolph, the child of a farmer who survived WWII, but relocated to East Berlin after his father was captured by the Russians. Trapped in the East after the partition of Germany, Joachim eventually escapes to the West and joins an organization that helps would-be escapees. Their most ambitious project would be the titular tunnel, and it was quite a feat of engineering (good thing Joachim was an engineering student).

There are several periphery characters presented as well, like a Stasi informant, fellow students, and people desperate to get out of East Germany. Of course, there are the few people from NBC who are aware of the tunnel and are filming a documentary. Merriman also highlights some of the most famous escapees and the tensest moments of the Cold War. The storytelling is excellent, the writing is captivating, and Joachim is truly admirable.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.