Spying for the People

Rezensionen / Stimmen

'This is an extraordinarily fine work of historical scholarship on a topic about which little had been known.' Hayden Peake, Studies in Intelligence 'Michael Schoenhals states a number of times in this study of internal covert surveillance in the establishment phase of the People's Republic of China that in many ways describing the history covered in this work is almost impossible. It involves an area in which the main actors deliberately concealed themselves and their actions, and about which archival material is hard to access, and even when available very hard properly to interpret. Despite these massive limitations, it is clear that the book is based on a large amount of Chinese primary source material, ranging from surveillance manuals to internal agent assessments and reports and agency minutes and secret documents. Getting this amount of material together on such a sensitive area is a formidable achievement in itself.' Kerry Brown, International Affairs 'For those with in an interest in security studies, Chinese history, especially the early years of the PRC, or totalitarian systems and their establishment, this book will be of value.' Katherine K. Reist, Journal of Military History