Kristina Spohr is currently the Helmut Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC. She also is on the permanent faculty of the International History Department at the London School of Economics (LSE). Spohr is the author of two books and five edited volumes on international affairs, most notably The Global Chancellor and Transcending the Cold War, both published by OUP in 2016, as well as Germany and the Baltic Problem after the Cold War.
Praise for Post Wall, Post Square 'Kristina Spohr beautifully reconstructs the events of the 1989-92 era, reminding us of the importance of intelligent, responsible political leadership at critical moments of history ... Uses recently declassified material in the British, French, German, Russian and US archives ... [and] pays deserved tribute also to the people power of central and eastern Europe. She mentions not only those who filled the streets of East Berlin and Prague in peaceful demonstrations, but also brave individuals such as Lech Walesa, the earthy, politically astute electrician from Gdansk, who symbolised Poland's non-violent move to democracy.' Financial Times 'Sweeping panorama ... One of the many strengths of this book is the way Spohr pulls together these stories of befuddled leaders and of the forces they unleashed, wittingly or otherwise, in effect providing a global history ... Post Wall, Post Square is free of jargon and filled with insight on the interplay between individual decisions and larger historical forces. The result is a magisterial account of the momentous events of 1989 and the diplomacy that put in place a new global settlement, with a reunified Germany at the heart of an expanded NATO and an enlarged and deepened European Union.' Times Literary Supplement Praise for Kristina Spohr 'A remarkable contribution on one of the key figures of the second half of the 20th century' Etudes internationales 'A seminal account of fundamental change in the international system during the 1970s. It should be read by everyone who tries to understand how today's world was created.' O. A. Westad, Harvard University