The book presents the professional career of one of the lesser-known figures in the security apparatus of interwar Czechoslovakia. Karel Vyčítal (1872–1952) represented, by his origin and education, the archetype of an Austro-Hungarian gendarmerie officer, but he played a very important role in shaping the law enforcement forces of the newly formed Czechoslovak state: during the complicated post-revolutionary period, he commanded the gendarmerie in the border region of Silesia, which was shaken by national and social unrest, and later led the entire gendarmerie corps for nearly ten years. The personal story of Karel Vyčítal also serves as a valuable testimony to the era of the birth of modern police service, when professional criminalistics began to be applied and police work became a frequent subject of interest for the media, politicians, and public opinion.
