ALISON LEWIS is Professor in the School of Languages and Linguistics, University of Melbourne, Australia.
"Lewis's engaging prose brings informers and agents to life and
provides an authentic glimpse into the lives, relationships, and
power dynamics that operated behind the scenes of the
notorious--and oft-misunderstood--East German culture of
surveillance."--Melissa Sheedy, German Studies Review
"Concentrating on a handful of writers who spied on their comrades,
Lewis (Univ. of Melbourne, Australia) provides extensive insight
into the operations of Eastern Europe's most extensive surveillance
state."--R. W. Lemmons, Choice
"A State of Secrecy is a compelling work that anyone
interested in the GDR must read. With a balance of patient,
in-depth research, ruthlessly clearsighted analysis, and
psychological intuition, Alison Lewis lays bare the dynamics of
secrecy in the GDR, but more important, the mechanisms that sustain
totalitarianism in the modern world. An intellectual tour de force
and a read as gripping as the extraordinary stories contained
within it."--Karen Leeder, professor of modern German literature at
New College, Oxford
"A State of Secrecy presents an inside look into the East
German Ministry for State Security and its employment of writers as
unofficial collaborators. Alison Lewis traces the intersecting
biographies of five Stasi collaborators across the spectrum of
informers deployed in the area of literature and culture. By
presenting in-depth portraits of these personalities and the
different kinds of surveillance they were involved in, A State
of Secrecy paints a fabulous picture of a collective biography
of Stasi informers within the cultural sphere, their motivations,
and their justifications, clearly explicating how the Stasi used
humane forms of surveillance to control and curtail cultural
expression for nearly forty years."--Carol Anne Costabile-Heming,
professor of German at the University of North Texas
"Carefully fording the gaps inherent in secret police files, Alison
Lewis tells fascinating Cold War stories about Stasi informers who
were instrumental in influencing literary production and policing
culture in East Germany. Extensively researched, A State of
Secrecy is an important book that shines a light on the shadowy
double lives of agents who were saddled with secrets. It exposes
the extent of their collaboration and surveillance activities, as
well as their habitus, motivation, and recompenses."--Valentina
Glajar, professor of German at Texas State University
"In telling the story of five informers, Alison Lewis reveals the
culture of surveillance that the Stasi purposefully created and
emphasizes the ways in which the Stasi used this particular group
of informers as an instrument of the state's cultural diplomacy and
as a weapon in the war against the subversive activities of the
West, particularly West Germany. . . . Eloquent."--Mary Kathryn
Barbier, author of Spies, Lies, and Citizenship: The Hunt for
Nazi Criminals
"This is the validation of Alison Lewis's remarkable ability to
extract meaning from East Germany's Stasi files and to convey the
insights she's gained to her readers in an enthralling manner. For
readers discovering her writing now, A State of Secrecy will
be an eye-opener. . . . This book is indispensable reading for all
Cold War buffs."--Corina L. Petrescu, associate professor of German
at the University of Mississippi
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