Well researched and engagingly written, Secret Police Files from the Eastern Bloc: Between Surveillance and Life Writing provides the reader with a wealth of sources and personal accounts of secret police influence, intervention, and collu- sion. One of the strengths of this book is the personal accounts of seemingly ordin- ary citizens’ disingenuous relationships with various secret police agencies. This is a fascinating account of personal reflection, blackmail, and bribery taken from the existing files of East Germany. Hungary and Romania. It is a valuable point of reference from those who wish to broaden their grasp on the accounts of former victims and unofficial informers of Central and Eastern Europe. Jeffrey Byford University of Memphis, USA Grant Rumley and Amir Tibon (eds), The Last Palestinian. The Rise and Reign of Mahmoud Abbas, Amherst, NY, Prometheus Books, 2017; 274 pp.; US$24.00 pbk; ISBN 9781633882997 Mahmoud Abbas is one of the last few remaining founding members of the Palestinian national movement. Born in 1935 into a working class family in Safed, in 1948 he and his family were forced out of Galilee and sought refuge in Syria, among more than 750,000 Palestinian refugees. Following the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004, Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in 2005, a role he holds to date. The Last Palestinian by Rumley and Tibon is a socio- political biography based on a large number of interviews, records and documents, but crucially not on an interview with Mahmoud Abbas himself. This is indeed the most relevant shortcoming of this work; nevertheless, it would be a mistake to underrate this book as a result of this limitation. Though the authors seem to strive for neutrality while discussing Abbas and his choices, in some parts they do not hide their disapproval or criticism, particularly of the last few years of his tenure as president of the Palestinian Authority. Rumley and Tibon suggest that in the end Abbas will be remembered as a tragic figure, as he has not been able to sign a peace agreement with Israel. They may be right, as his legacy will be tested only after he will be gone, but it is also surely true that Abbas will be remembered in different ways according to those who will judge. The 12 chapters composing the book are chronologically divided according to a specific timeframe shared by both Abbas and the peace process, suggesting that the authors are interested in the relationship between the man and the action. Though it is certainly an understandable approach, this choice of narrative seems to isolate Abbas from a larger context – not that the authors forgot local and international politics, as they did not forget family relations – and place him at the helm of the peace process, as if he would have been the only one responsible for its failure or success. The first four chapters provide the context in order to understand Abbas’ rise to power after Arafat’s death. Rumley and Tibon often remind the readers of his good reputation in Washington and Jerusalem as negotiator, compared to Ramallah where his lack of charisma made him a somewhat secondary figure. ‘He is not a people person’ recalled a former staffer: indeed he was and is not one. 906 Journal of Contemporary History 53(4)