This is the much awaited third volume of the extremely popular Stasi collector's guide series of books by Pickard. It is hard to imagine, but Volume III is even better illustrated than the previous two. All three volumes together include over 900 pages with over 1700 illustrations!

The book delves ever further into the fascinating subject of DDR notorious secret police and its memorabilia. The book shows a number of Stasi documents, badges, and non-portable awards that did not appear in the previous books. Moreover, the third volume of Pickard's work provides a far more detailed history of MfS (STASI) and focuses on its cooperation with KGB and State Security of other Eastern Bloc countries. Consequently, widely represented in this massive volume are groups of medals and decorations issued to state security officers of Warsaw Pact that include DDR awards - accompanied by detailed identification of the awards and in many cases, explanation of their significance. Photos of German and foreign documents are likewise accompanied by detailed description and in some cases, full English translation of the text. To even greater extent than the previous volumes, the book is richly illustrated by period photographs of Warsaw Pact intelligence officers. Some of these photos are truly exceptional, for example those showing parachute training of MfS special operations units.

A result of years of painstaking research, this book is truly a gift to the collecting community and Cold War historians alike. With only 750 copies in print, this book may soon be out of print and become a scarce collectible in its own right!