Seduced by Secrets

List Price: $28.00

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.

Other articles on Kristie Macrakis and Invisible Ink:

Cold War Invisible Ink Secrets Unlocked
Secret of Cold War Spy Messages Revealed


History Book Club Featured Selection

(Read the review)



Spymasters' Secrets
The Seductions of Snooping

(July-August 2008)
Read the Harvard Magazine article

Scientific American

On December 20, 2006 Scientific American did a phone interview with Kristie Macrakis on her book. Click the play button to listen or view the text version.


Jack Lessenberry Essays and Interviews

Interview: Kristie Macrakis - 4/3/2008

Political trends come and go, but two things seem to remain constant. There are always spies, and people always seem to be fascinated by them. Kristie Macrakis is a professor at Michigan State University. She's written a new book about the now-vanished East German secret police. The book is entitled, “Seduced By Secrets; Inside the Stasi’s Spy-tech World.” Michigan Radio’s Jack Lessenberry spoke with her.

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