Snowden
Seven Stories Press, 2015
Agent: Sandra Dijkstra
As many as 1.4 million citizens with security clearance saw some or all of the same documents revealed by Edward Snowden. Why did he, and no one else, decide to step forward and take on the risks associated with becoming a whistleblower and then a fugitive? Rall delves into Snowden's early life and work experience, his personality, and the larger issues of privacy, new surveillance technologies, and the recent history of government intrusion. Rall describes Snowden's political vision and hopes for the future. In a way, the book tells two stories: Snowden's and a larger one that describes all of us on the threshold of tremendous technological upheaval and political change.
Snowden is a portrait of a brave young man standing up to the most powerful government in the world and, if not winning, at least reaching a stand-off, and in this way is an incitation to us all to measure our courage and listen to our consciences in asking ourselves what we might have done in his shoes.
Reviews:
“Through comically drawn figures and through yet uncomplicated blocks of tex, Rall chronicles former NSA contractor Snowden’s early life…and serves to help answer the questions: Of the countess government employees who knew of these programs, whyh was Snowden the one to risk everything to uncover them? And would we have done the same had we been in his position?...But just like the Snowden saga that Rall carefully repackaged, Americans’ relationship with their government is complicated. And even with this easy-to-understand chronology in tow, American attitudes toward Snowden may be a bit more nuanced.”
—Newsweek
“A darkly funny look at our ongoing surveillance nightmare. An entertaining, exhaustive, and approachable look at an incredibly important and relevant topic, because information security affects everyone whether you like it or not.”
—PC Magazine
“Ted Rall’s Snowden is a dramatic, evocative, thoughtful and very accessible account of one of the most important stories of the century – and one of the most ominous, unless citizens are roused to action to rein in abusive state power.”
—Noam Chomsky
“Ted Rall nails his accurate graphics on the door of the national security state’s unconstitutional mass surveillance, blanket invasions of privacy and related illegalities against the American people—charged to the American taxpayers. For all self-respecting citizens pressed for time, Ted Rall’s story of the heroic whistleblower, Edward Snowden, is essential reading as ‘Big Brother’ starts having to look over its shoulders.”
—Ralph Nader