This book records the evocative four-year journey of British photographers Paul Drake (born 1974) and Helen File (born 1969) into one of the most secretive and heavily fortified borders in the world. For 37 years over 800 watchtowers monitored the surveillance along the Inner German Border; they were the first line of defense against the West and one of the most infamous sites of the Cold War. Continuous games of binocular warfare were carried out by both NATO and the Warsaw Pact across the "Death Strip." Through meticulous research and with assistance from guards stationed along the border and Berlin Wall, Drake and File have compiled concise documentation on the watchtowers of the former border. Once inaccessible, the border is now the largest nature reserve in Germany.
