The revealing book that meets the Lives of Others through an unexpected journey. Forty years after the Prague Spring and almost twenty since the Velvet Revolution, the last chief of the secret services of Czechoslovakia, General Alois Lorenz, reflects on the empire of 100,000 agents he himself commanded, aimed at defending socialism.

A unique testimony from the inner workings of the system about: I. The role of secret services, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, the organization and functioning methods, their goals, and means. The penetration into every social and private space, the clandestine plans for the surveillance of Alexander Dubcek, Vaclav Havel, and all enemies of socialism, censorship, and the curtailment of human rights.

II. The beginning and end of the "Prague Spring" and the lost opportunity it represented.

III. The reasons for the collapse of existing socialism as recorded by the man who not only knew the disappointment of the masses but also the fact that the most powerful opposition was found within the ranks of Power.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]