Building upon the earlier archival work of historians, political scientists, and other researchers, the author presents a thematic history of communist East Germany's Ministry of State Security (the Stasi). Advancing the central argument that the Stasi was of great importance as a social, political, and economic agent in the lives of the people of the German Democratic Republic, chapters address: the origins and influences of the institution, the driving forces of its growth, the role of the unofficial collaborator in its work and in society, the extent and purposes of Stasi surveillance, the dynamics of resistance and repression, Stasi operations abroad, the final collapse of the Stasi in 1989-90, and the legacy of the Stasi in the culture of memory. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)