The Glass Wall: Lives on the Baltic Frontier

The Glass Wall is a journey to the edge of Europe that mixes history, travelogue, and oral testimony to reveal a fascinating part of Europe, on a frontier whose limits may still be in doubt. It features an extraordinary cast of characters who have lived and fought in the Baltic, including warriors, victims, philosophers, Baltic Barons, poets, and artists.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 12 May 2022
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Few countries have suffered more from the convulsions and bloodshed of twentieth-century Europe than those in the eastern Baltic. Small nations such as the Baltic States of Latvia and Estonia found themselves caught between the giants of Germany and Russia, on a route across which armies surged or retreated. Subjected to foreign domination and conquest since the Northern crusades in the twelfth century, these lands faced frequent devastation as Germans, Russians, and Swedish colonisers asserted control of the territory, religion, government, culture, and inhabitants.

The Glass Wall features an extraordinary cast of characters – contemporary and historical, foreign and indigenous – who have lived and fought in the Baltic and made the atmosphere of what was often thought to be western Europes furthest redoubt. Too often, it has seemed to be the destiny of this region to be the front line of other peoples' wars. By telling the stories of warriors and victims, of philosophers and Baltic Barons, of poets and artists, of rebels and emperors, and others who lived through years of turmoil and violence, Max Egremont reveals a fascinating part of Europe, on a frontier whose limits may still be in doubt.

Fascinating. . . a rich, nuanced account of life on the Baltic frontier - The Times
Excellent. . . a compelling and informative book - Daily Mail
Extraordinary. . . a remarkable achievement - Literary Review
Exemplary. . . a masterful and compelling work - Economist

Weight: 230g
Dimension: 131 x 196 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509845446