`This is an engagingly written and extremely topical book that sheds new light on the important relationship between political transition and the reform of security services. The authors explore the concept of security intelligence and place the discussion of post-Communist Europe within the wider context of transitions from authoritarian rule and security-sector reform. The substantive chapters on Czech, Slovak and Romanian security services are extremely well researched and shed new light on the intricate details of security reform; one cannot find this detailed information elsewhere in English-language sources. This is an important and informative book.' - Charles King, Ion Ratui Chair of Romanian Studies, Georgetown University

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.