MixedThe Washington Post\"Steil tells the story of not just the development of the Marshall Plan but also the division of Germany, the founding of NATO and, as the subtitle of his book indicates, the dawn of the Cold War. Steil’s account is the most detailed yet of the lengthy, constantly evolving initiative … Steil is at his best when describing the myriad agencies and policies that oversaw and executed the Marshall Plan as it distributed more than $13 billion in aid to 17 countries from 1948 to 1952. He writes elegantly on economics, explaining complicated mechanisms used to fuel the Western European recovery … Steil’s conclusion is less convincing. He ends the book with a distracting discussion of the post-Cold War period and a critique of U.S.-supported NATO expansion to countries of the former Soviet bloc and the resulting alienation of Russia.\
Greg Mitchell
PositiveThe Washington PostThe book vividly describes the harrowing conditions under which strong young men based in West Berlin dug the tunnels ... Mitchell’s interviews with the tunnelers, couriers and escapees put a human face on this dramatic experience ... The political and media angles in The Tunnels are indeed intriguing, but the tension between rival journalists pales in comparison to what the refugees and their helpers were risking. Moreover, much of Mitchell’s narrative rotates among a broad array of characters. This complex account involves too many characters to keep track of or feel emotionally attached to ... The intense drama and risks involved for the tunnelers and the escapees offer a compelling context for today’s refugee crisis.
