Specialists in intelligence history will find much of interest in Professor Kristie Macrakis' new study of the East German Ministry for State Security (MfS) also known as the Stasi. Macrakis, a professor of the history of science at Michigan State University, explains in the preface that her interest in this subject grew out of a long-ago year spent as a student in divided Berlin. After the Wall came down, she was amazed to discover how much espionage had been going on around her and decided to make it the focus of intensive historical research. This long-standing personal familiarity with her subject is evident and helps to enliven her text.

Seduced by Secrets is the result of her detailed investigations into the archive of the Stasi over a number of research visits to Germany. Using its files, Macrakis reconstructs a number of episodes and events from Cold-War history. As an expert in modern science—she is also the author of Science under Socialism (1999)—she has chosen in particular to focus on the Stasi's attitudes toward technology, what practical use the MfS made of it, and how it sought to acquire more.

Many of the events she describes are very interesting, such as that of Werner Stiller, a case officer in the MfS's Sector for Science and Technology, described in chapter three. Macrakis recounts how Stiller lost his confidence in East Germany, decided to defect, and later ended up working for Goldman Sachs. The book's description of the tools of the epsionage trade, which includes many photos, is also informative.

Macrakis states at the beginning that readers should not expect a conventional academic study. What she has produced is more a compilation of stories, anecdotes, and photos (many taken by the author personally) than a work of historical argument. This book design is intentional. As Macrakis says in the preface, in her view, “history is not an argument, but a selection of material.” Hence, her goal was to collect and describe a series of events, hoping “to bring to life the more interesting episodes surrounding technology” (both quotations are from p. xv).

While admitting that her self-described “‘you are there’” reportage-style writing, intentionally set up “with no moral commentary” (p. xv), may seem unconventional, she feels that her subject matter justifies its use. Macrakis is explicit in saying that she wants to stick to describing technology, its applications, and the role that it played in the history of the MfS, thereby keeping her text apart from political debates of the time and “distancing itself from politically charged commentary” (p. 1) on the morality of the operations in which the Stasi was using the technology she describes. Readers will either find these choices refreshing or unconvincing, depending on their personal view of whether history should include moral and normative arguments about its subject matter, or whether technology should be fully situated in its political and social context.

As a result of these intentional choices, the book is most useful to those specifically interested in the role of technology in espionage. Since Macrakis has done a great deal of archival work on the Stasi's use of technology, she focuses on describing her experience in doing that research and the findings that resulted. Those fascinated by the shadowy world of intelligence will find many new and interesting details here as a result.