Stasiland

from the Miles Franklin Prize-winning author of All That I Am

Anna Funder

$24.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Penguin Random House Australia
01 April 2025

True stories: discovery, historical & scientific; History

Anna Funder's Samuel Johnson Prize-winning Stasiland is an Australian classic, the definitive account of tyranny and resistance in the former East Germany.

WINNER OF THE BBC FOUR SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE

'Fascinating, entertaining, hilarious, horrifying and very important.' Tom Hanks 'Exhilirating ... The kind of book that makes us love non-fiction.' Helen Garner 'Unforgettable.' The Sydney Morning Herald 'Brilliant ... a masterpiece.' Sunday Times

Truth can be stranger - and more heartbreaking and hilarious - than fiction.

In this now classic work, Funder tells extraordinary stories from the most perfected surveillance state of all time, the former East Germany. She meets Miriam, condemned as an enemy of the state at sixteen, and Frau Paul, for whom the Berlin Wall 'went through my heart'. She drinks with the legendary 'Mik Jegger' of the East, once declared by the authorities to 'no longer exist'. And she meets ex-Stasi - men who spied on their families and friends - still loyal to the deposed regime as they await the next revolution.

Stasiland is a brilliant, timeless portrait of a Kafkaesque world as gripping as any thriller. In a world of total surveillance, its celebration of human conscience and courage is as potent as ever.

'Stasiland demonstrates that great, original reporting is still possible ... A heartbreaking beautifully written book. A classic for sure.' Claire Tomalin, The Guardian UK

'Colourful, intensely observed, well executed, with lots of black humor and disturbing undertones.' Kirkus Reviews

'Filtered through Funder's own keen perspective, these dramatic tales highlight the courage that ordinary people can display in torturous circumstances.' Publishers Weekly

By: Anna Funder
Imprint: Penguin Random House Australia
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 197mm, Width: 131mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 232g
ISBN: 9781761343681
ISBN 10: 1761343688
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 01 April 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Anna Funder is the author of Stasiland, All That I Am and Wifedom - each book an international bestseller, published in many countries - and the novella The Girl with the Dogs. Her books have won multiple literary awards, including the UK's premier award for non-fiction, the Samuel Johnson Prize, for Stasiland; Australia's most prestigious, the Miles Franklin, for her novel All That I Am; and the renowned French prize the Prix du Meilleur Livre tranger, for Wifedom. Originally trained as an international human rights lawyer, Anna has lived in Melbourne, Paris, Berlin and New York City. She now lives with her family in Sydney. annafunder.com