This book is essential to East German collectors, researchers or anyone interested in wanting to know more of the STASI organization. This book illustrates in detail some of East Germany’s most interesting medals and in particular the award documents presented to STASI members during the mid 1950s through the end of the 1980s.
Hayden Peake, CIA Center in IntelligenceRalph Pickard has taken a step in the direction of preserving a piece of the East German heraldic record with his new reference work.
John Adams-Graf, Military Trader EditorThe author has provided a valuable first step towards understanding the awards and the people who received them.
Michael Gallagher, DDR militaria collectorIf you like your table fare set with intangibles associated to the Cold War Spy arena, then this book will satisfy even the hungriest avid connoisseurs.
Bob Gowen, Gowen MilitariaThis book is in a class all by itself in more ways than one. There is nothing like the book on either side of the Atlantic.
David Nickles, Ph.D.Mr. Pickard demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the memorabilia, and the book is well-designed and has excellent production value.
International Militaria-Magazine (IMM)Die Präzision dieser Darstellung reicht bis zu millimetergenauen Größenangaben für Texteile und einzelne Schlüsselworte in den Dokumenten: Exakter geht's nicht mehr!
This is the first volume to provide a comprehensive survey and evaluation of STASI decorations. The author draws on this to construct an invaluable work of reference for all those engaged in collecting STASI material.
This book is a 247 page hardcover book that provides identifying subtle changes in particular documents and awards, and providing time-charts and crucial measuring data to help spot non-authentic reproductions, with some known to exist.
The fact remains that the material presented in this impressive volume represents the many years of collection, evaluation, collation and painstaking analysis by the author.
