God's Spies: The Stasi's Cold War espionage campaign inside the Church

by Elisabeth Braw

Publisher:

Lion Books

, 2019

When the Berlin Wall came down, the files of the East German secret police, the much-dreaded Stasi, were opened and read. And among the shocking stories revealed was that of the Stasi's infiltration of the Church. Almost 10% of the Lutheran Church's workforce were, it appears, busy involved in spying on each other, and on the Church's congregations. The Lutheran Church was the only semi-free space in East Germany, where those who rebelled against the regime could find a way of living at least a little out of the government's iron grip. Even the organisations that smuggled Bibles were infiltrated.

Praise for God's Spies

"This is a work of more than historical interest. Elisabeth Braw's shrewd and often scathing analysis of the characters involved and the issues they are dealing with leads us to draw many lessons for the modern world, and to wonder how things could be diffrent. Well worth reading. " James Arbuthnot, the Rt Hon Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom

"God's Spies is a gripping account of the sinister work of East Germany's Stasi secret police in its decades-long attempt to manipulate and exploit people's most sacred and private personla beliefs. Elisabeth Braw writes with insight and sympathy, based on unique material from not only the victims, but also - in a rare feat of reporting - from the perpetrators [...] you will find this book unputdownable." Edward Lucas, author and columnist for The Times.

Product Details

• Title: God's Spies: The Stasi's Cold War espionage campaign inside the Church
• Author: Elisabeth Braw
• Publisher: Lion Books
• Print Publication Date: 2019
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9780745980096, 9780745980089, 0745980082, 0745980090, 9780802875259, 0802875254, 1467456403, 9780745980102, 0745980104, 9781467456401
• Resource ID: LLS:9780745980096
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-05-20T10:46:50Z

About Elisabeth Braw

Elisabeth Braw runs the Modern Deterrence project at RUSI, a London-based defence and security think tank. She was previously a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek and is a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, the Times (London), Foreign Policy, and the Financial Times, focusing on European security.