Only once in their history did the Germans succeed in staging a successful and peaceful revolution: in the years 1989-1990. This is the story of that revolution, with an explanation of the background and an evaluation of the consequences. In the autumn of 1989, the people wrenched the right peaceably to assemble from the authorities and changed the world. Author Jens Schöne explains the whole complex process: how each little gain had to be fought for and how desperately the regime clung to power.