Americans Behind the Iron Curtain is a story of endurance, suffering, patriotism, and cunning tactics during the Cold War. It relates what happened to seven American political prisoners in East Berlin during the mid-to-late 1960s, one of whom was the author's own father. Their idealistic motives as well as their fate at the hands of the Stasi is described in detail. The nuanced negotiations between East and West reveal motives and resistance on behalf of both countries. When official channels of negotiations failed, a New York lawyer with ties to the White House accepted the challenge. Maxwell M. Rabb, who was also President of the American Committee for Refugees, took charge without an official mandate, paid his own expenses, and ultimately succeeded in negotiating the release of the prisoners.

Using newly unclassified material, unpublished materials, and personal interviews, the author offers readers new insight into the process of prisoner negotiations between East and West during the Cold War. With its detailed accounting of the fate of American prisoners held in Stasi prisons, this book expands on the knowledge of Cold War diplomacy in Berlin during the 1960s.