Targeted as a Spy Surveillance of an American Diplomat in Communist Romania

This book is a collection of surveillance reports that Dr. Latham obtained from the Romanian archives following the collapse of the Communist regime. They reveal the extent of the surveillance to which Western diplomats were subjected and, more importantly, they reveal a great deal about the system and society that conducted it. Latham’s introduction provides the context of his work and Romanian conditions at that time. This book is essential reading for students of the Cold War as well as anyone interested in the mindset and methods of totalitarian regimes.

Ernest H. Latham, Jr. was a career Foreign Service Officer who served the United States in various posts in the Middle East and Central Europe. From 1983 to 1987, he was the cultural attaché at the American Embassy in Bucharest. During his time in Romania, Dr. Latham was targeted as a spy by the brutal Communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu and subjected to constant, intrusive surveillance by his dreaded and dreadful secret police, the Securitate.

Introduction by Ernest H. Latham, Jr. American-Romanian Political and Cultural Relations during the Cold War by Vadim Guzun Documents Postscript by Dennis Deletant Photos Abbreviations