The first account of the secret police in Eastern Europe and after 1989, this book uses a wide range of sources, including archives, to identify what has and has not changed since the end of communism. After explaining the structure and workings of two of the area's most feared services, Czechoslovakia's StB and Romania's Securitate, the authors details the creation of new security intelligence institutions, the development of contacts with the West, and forms of democratic control.

List of Abbreviations Introduction; K.Williams The StB in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1989; K.Williams Czechoslovakia, 1990-92; K.Williams The Czech Republic since 1993; K.Williams Slovakia since 1993; K.Williams The Securitate Legacy in Romania; D.Deletant The Successors to the Securitate; D.Deletant Conclusion; K.Williams Bibliography Index

KIERAN WILLIAMS is Lecturer at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London. Among his publications are The Prague Spring and its Aftermath: Czechoslovak Politics, 1968-1970 (1997), which was awarded the BASEES/Orbis prize in 1998.

DENNIS DELETANT is Professor of Romanian Studies at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London. At the end of December 1989 he returned to Bucharest as consultant to the BBC during the Romanian revolution.