The city becomes a symbol

"This book covers the period between the closing days of World War II in Europe in 1945 and the culmination of the Berlin airlift in 1949. It is based on the records of the U.S. military government in Berlin, the official records of many of the U.S. Army elements involved in the occupation, and the military and diplomatic correspondence of senior leaders in the United States, Britain, and France. Although much of it is focused upon the U.S. Army units involved in the occupation, the nature of events in Berlin requires a different perspective. This is also a story of soldier-diplomats, whose actions during the first five years of the occupation laid the groundwork for U.S.-Soviet relations for the rest of the twentieth century. And finally, it is also the story of the citizens of West Berlin, whose activism during the early postwar years rejected the overtures of Communist emissaries and firmly oriented their portion of the city toward the West."--From the Preface.