📱 eBook en inglés FIRST CLASS COMRADES

** It is the definitive account, a compelling exploration of a mind-bending ideological experiment, its secret servants and the lives they definedSunday Times **

After the Second World War, divided Germany was saturated with spies. Among them were the first class comrades of the Stasi - the East German Ministry for State Security. The early Cold War saw the Stasi establish itself as one of the worlds most notorious spy and secret police agencies.

Drawing on rarely seen files from the Stasi archives, First Class Comrades tells the Stasi story from a fresh perspective: how it helped to create a new European state, how its foreign intelligence service became one of the most successful ever, and how its spy-catchers tackled vigorous attempts by the West to infiltrate East Germany - attempts that influenced the decision to build the Berlin Wall.

Full of new insights on Cold War espionage, and featuring newly discovered details of the Stasis operational methods, First Class Comrades shines a light on this lesser-known period of Stasi history, and why its stories and lessons still matter today.

First Class Comrades represents a master stroke of synthesis… Boulters approach – a blend of operational history, biography, and vignettes – makes readable work of material that could have bogged down… The bibliography alone commends this book to anyone interested in understanding Second World intelligence. But it would be a mistake to skip to the end of First Class Comrades without thoroughly savoring the text… the volumes most conspicuous charm – as a cover-to-cover read, as a resource, or as a classroom assignment – is its focus on the other Germanys formative period in and on its own termsCarolyn Halladay, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence

Essential for all whose libraries contain an espionage sectionStrong Words

This is an intricately researched and truly comprehensive survey from the end of WWII and the Stasis origins to the Berlin Wall... An important addition to the canon of Cold War European history and espionageCrime Time

Masterful... Whenever we think we know all about the Cold War, we find theres more to discover. Boulters comprehensive and insightful account of the Stasi in the early rough-and-tumble years of that confrontation is unprecedentedAlan Judd, author of Queen & Country

Boulters thorough research provides an excellent reference for understanding how the Stasi began and how it fulfilled its responsibilitiesKevin Riehle, author of The Russian FSB

An excellent read... Issues raised, such as the ethics of infiltrating political groups, are live ones...It is clear from Boulters excellent work that, if anything, we were all under-briefed on how bad things were in Cold War Germany. It has certainly raised questions which this humble reviewer has had to scramble to the computer to researchSimon Smith, Police History Society

A fascinating deep dive into the murky waters of Cold War espionage and the early days of East Germanys notorious secret policeNick Rennison, author of Riots and Rebels

An impressive work... Boulter really widens the perspective on the StasiDieter Bacher, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on Consequences of War

Perfect for reader...&...