Seduced by Secrets: Inside the Stasi's Spy-Tech World | 
 enlarge | Author: Kristie Macrakis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  37 reviews
Sales Rank: 166443
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 392
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 052188747X
Dewey Decimal Number: 327.12431009045
EAN: 9780521887472
ASIN: 052188747X
Publication Date: March 21, 2008
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Product Description
More fascinating than fiction, Seduced by Secrets takes the reader inside the real world of one of the most effective and feared spy agencies in history. The book reveals, for the first time, the secret technical methods and sources of the Stasi (East German Ministry for State Security) as it stole secrets from abroad and developed gadgets at home, employing universal, highly guarded techniques often used by other spy and security agencies. Seduced by Secrets draws on secret files from the Stasi archives, including CIA-acquired material, interviews and friendships, court documents, and unusual visits to spy sites, including "breaking into" a prison, to demonstrate that the Stasi overestimated the power of secrets to solve problems and created an insular spy culture more intent on securing its power than protecting national security. It recreates the Stasi's secret world of technology through biographies of agents, defectors, and officers and by visualizing James Bond-like techniques and gadgets. In this highly original book, Kristie Macrakis adds a new dimension to our understanding of the East German Ministry for State Security by bringing the topic into the realm of espionage history and exiting the political domain.
Book Description
Seduced by Secrets reveals the secret technical sources and methods of the Stasi (East German Ministy for State Security). Based on prodigious research in the Stasi archives, Seduced by Secrets enters the Stasi's secret world of technology through biographies of agents, defectors, and officers.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 32 more reviews...
 Good look at the world of the Stasi October 16, 2008
No question, this is a great look inside the world of the Stasi. However, I wouldn't plan on packing this with the sandwich's for a day at the beach. This is a deep and scholarly treatment. For history buffs - it is highly recommended. For the casual reader - you can pass without feeling you've missed out.
A great deal of information but a rather dry narrative.... October 16, 2008
This book contains a lot of information, but the presentation is on the scholarly side. The book comes across as a rather dry read.
Having taken a recent trip to The International Spy Museum in Washington DC where they have a great exhibit on the Stasi, I was moderately interested in the subject. However this book put me to sleep more than once.
I'm giving it three and a half stars for being well researched and informative. Recommended only if you have a burning interest in the subject.
Spies and More Spies September 26, 2008
When I was a kid and Germany was still divided into East and West countries and Checkpoint Charlie was a part of scary politics, I loved spy stories. There was nothing like courageous men and women slipping into and out of East Germany and fooling the dreaded East German police, the Stasi.
The Stasi were great villains, although I didn't know a lot of what I assumed was fiction was so near the truth. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE owed them for a few plots, as well as several adventure novels during those times, and Hollywood.
This book is highly documented and well researched. The writing can be a little dry in places, but it doesn't take much effort to slip into those dangerous shadows portrayed on the pages. History buffs and spy fans will love this book for its depth and detail.
A view into a forgotten world of spies and secrets August 24, 2008
The German Stasi was truly an insidious force. Just ask anyone who lived in the former East Germany. Entire families were watched, and even six year old children had their own Stasi file.
What is less known is that the Stasi also were a formidable overseas spy network. They infiltrated Western businesses primarily for their technological know-how, in a desperate- and ultimately futile - race to keep up economically and technologically. In the process, the Stasi did manage, however, to produce some truly innovative and advanced pieces of technology - for the purposes of spying. One wonders what might have been if those talents had been directed toward civilian pursuits.
After the Iron Curtain fell, many of the Stasi's records were destroyed, or "disappeared." However author Kristie Macrakis gained access to many of the records that were saved, and introduces us in this book to characters like Peter Fischer aka Werner Stiller. Fischer led a convoluted multiple life with multiple families in multiple countries. Another small character introduced is the very appropriately named Monika Lustig, who worked for the Stasi as a prostitute.
If there is one drawback to this book, it is that Dr. Macrakis is not a journalist or novelist, but an academic. At times, when we wish the book would dig a little deeper into the titillating, the exotic, or the lurid, Dr. Macrakis writes as an academic would. A particularly notable example of this is the case of Heinrich Lummer,a Christian Democratic politician who was seduced by a Stasi agent, and then was the attempted victim of blackmail by the Stasi who had photographic evidence. This entire story is introduced and concluded in one -rather dry- paragraph. Surely, Dr. Macrakis could have given us more.
Seduced by Secrets is a valuable and unique view inside one of the neglected chapters of the Cold War. Unfortunately, sometimes when we want the writing to be more like James Bond, it resembles the stereotypical image of East Germany: cold and clinical, with all of the really juicy stuff still hidden.
 History Little Touched By Scholars August 21, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This detail rich book brings to light a subject little covere4d by authors in English. This book should give new details on the East German spy agency, and should be good for both history and intelligence buffs. I recommend this book.
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