  The spin-boson model, often used in NMR and ESR physics, quantum optics and
spintronics, is considered in a solvable limit to model a spin one-half
particle interacting with a bosonic thermal bath. By applying external pulses
to a non-equilibrium initial state of the spin, work can be extracted from the
thermalized bath. It occurs on the timescale $\T_2$ inherent to transversal
(`quantum') fluctuations. The work (partly) arises from heat given off by the
surrounding bath, while the spin entropy remains constant during a pulse. This
presents a violation of the Clausius inequality and the Thomson formulation of
the second law (cycles cost work) for the two-level system.
  Starting from a fully disordered state, coherence can be induced by employing
the bath. Due to this, a gain from a positive-temperature (inversion-free)
two-level system is shown to be possible.
