Born Erika Assmus in the Weimar Republic, she grew up with the Nazis in power and, in 1945, went to work for a rocket science institute in the Russian zone. It was there that she began to work for the Americans as a spy.

About a woman who led a double life in the two post-war Germanys. Born Erika Assmus in the Weimar Republic, she grew up with the Nazis in power and, in 1945, went to work for a rocket science institute in the Russian zone. It was there that she began to work for the Americans as a spy. She studied at the Communist Party's cadre school, was denounced and fled to West Berlin. She assumed the name of Carola Stern, became a literary figure, a well-known writer of biographies and books on politics, a founder of Amnesty International and a familiar TV commentator on current events. Her personal biography presents the opportunity for Schadt to delve into the biography of a country searching for its identity.—Ulf Kjell Gür