Bruce's empirical findings are extremely interesting. Mary Fulbrook, History Today.
Based on previously classified documents and on interviews with former
secret police officers and ordinary citizens, The Firm is the first
comprehensive history of East Germany's secret police, the Stasi, at the
grassroots level. Focusing on Gransee and Perleberg, two East German
districts located north of Berlin, Gary Bruce reveals how the Stasi
monitored small-town East Germany. He paints an eminently human portrait
of those involved with this repressive arm of the government, featuring
interviews with former officers that uncover a wide array of
personalities, from devoted ideologues to reluctant opportunists, most
of whom talked frankly about East Germany's obsession with surveillance.
Their paths after the collapse of Communism are gripping stories of
resurrection and despair, of renewal and demise, of remorse and
continued adherence to the movement. The book also sheds much light on
the role of the informant, the Stasi's most important tool in these
out-of-the-way areas. Providing on-the-ground empirical evidence of how
the Stasi operated on a day-to-day basis with ordinary people, this
remarkable volume offers an unparalleled picture of life in a
totalitarian state.
