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In the two decades following the defeat of the Third Reich, East Germany was transformed from a war-ravaged occupation zone into what was in many ways a remarkably stable model of Soviet-style socialism. Or so it seemed until the dramatic events of autumn 1989. The history of the former German Democratic Republic has been the subject of intense interest and debate since the fall of the Berlin Wall, not least because of the opening of its previously restricted archives. Based on extensive archival research and utilizing the insights of other studies, this book explores the building of socialism in East Germany, not from the standard perspective of the party and state authorities, but, rather, from focusing on the effects this had at the grass-roots, where patterns of popular opinion, social and cultural continuities from the pre-communist past and the divided loyalties of local functionaries played a crucial role in shaping the face of 'real-existing socialism'.