When the Berlin Wall came down, historians (few if any of whom had foretold the event) found themselves unexpectedly challenged to reassess the nature of the GDR. The period since the heady changes of 1989-90 has seen feverish activity in the archives, as historians have sought both to deepen understanding of how the regime functioned and to move beyond earlier views inescapably conditioned by Cold War antagonisms. But if hopes were harbored that some kind of consensus would eventually emerge as a result of all this industry, they have not been realized. Controversy is undiminished, in part because of the continuing importance of interpretations of the GDR's history to German political culture. One result of the proliferation of published research is that the contours of debate have shifted or new issues have arisen, not always in clear-cut fashion. Even scholars working in the area have, at times, difficulty in seeing the wood for the trees. The East German Dictatorship is the first detailed mapping of the area, identifying key interpretational issues, describing the evolution of different approaches to them, and providing the author's own evaluation. A wide range of themes is covered, from state/society relations to the role of opposition to the GDR's place in the longer sweep of German history, and central aspects of the regime's foundation, internal organization, social and economic system, collapse, and 'after-life' receive close attention.