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Title: The Last Mission: Behind the Iron Curtain by Steve Gibson, Stevyn Gibson ISBN: 0-7509-1408-4 Publisher: Sutton Publishing Pub. Date: April, 1998 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $33.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: It was like you were there, tense, exciting & wry humour
Comment: Steve has managed to bring to life a little known part of the drama that was the Cold War. He has a unique ability to potray the claustrophobic atmosphere that working under cover must bring. Again and again it is the ironic humour of Steve and his colleagues that let them cope. It has none of the glamour of a number of other tell all stories but with that comes gritty realism.

Rating: 5
Summary: "Trainspotting" and "Dumpster Diving" vs. Guys With Guns
Comment: I've been waiting for two years to see a review of this, so here goes. It seems to have been overlooked. This is a fascinating and hard to put down account of one Brit's personal experiences as part of the British observer teams in East Germany, while eluding the East German and Soviet field security. Their duties were to clandestinely observe and keep track of troop movements and unit deployments in addition to the introduction of new weaponry and equipment. This duty was done by the military liason teams of the three western occupying powers. They had the authority to go where they pleased but if they went openly they would be physically blocked from accessing anything interesting --if clandestinely, but still required to be in uniform, were likely to be physically harassed, if not shot by field security or unit guard forces. Some were killed on duty but there was no lack of volunteers. Many a tale of midnight sneaks and layups during the day and dodgem driving to escape pursuit. All of the teams had favorite hidey holes near bridges and RR crossings and their special maps showed exactly where they were. They had radios and carried cameras as well so their activities could not well have been denied. Probably the worst and nastiest activities took place during the semi-annual redeployments of Soviet troops. First, one must realize that few laagers had sewage systems, nor was there any organized rubbish removal or recycling. And shredders and burners were not issue items. Also understand that toilet paper was not issued nor readily available otherwise. Because the redeploying Soviets traveled with only their personal baggage and not with their individual equipment, and, most importantly, the technical and field manuals, classified or otherwise, issued to them for their duty use, this material, if worn or excess, was simply dumped with the left over body excretions, into a rubbish tip. These tips were usually on the outskirts of the garrison towns, and it was common for locals to rummage about to find salvagable materials. Thus, after one of these redeployments, there were all sorts of spare parts, classified documents and manuals mixed in with the kitchen rubbish and excreta. Midnight raids on these dumps while wearing non-descript coveralls were part of the drill. Some of the materials recovered from the slime pits were of extremely high importance, detailing the new ablative tank armor, weapons systems and much else of technical intelligence value. Also personal items such as unit badges could sometimes be used to keep track of OB. All in all, exciting, dangerous, and extremely trying duty. If you weren't shot, you might catch some loathsome disease while sorting through the midden heaps. (As archeologists have found, privies are good sources for artifacts, and the smell can last for a couple of hundred years.) In this case, the whole country was a vast privy and midden heap. Investments in sanitary infrastructure were not high on East Bloc priorities