Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State by Barton Gellman

This is the third book I’ve read about Snowden, but I’m still fascinated in the event. As a computer geek, this event had a major impact on my life.

If you don’t know, Snowden was an NSA contractor who discovered the NSA was not as good as they claimed to be. He got files as evidence out of the NSA and gave it to 3 reporters to report on this massive story.

This book has lots of commentary from government types from the NSA, and the CIA. Gellman also talks about some more technical stuff that the other books about Snowden did not. This narrative is from Gellman, a more conservative newspaper man, so it isn’t as flashy, or hyperbolic as some other books I’ve read. I enjoyed the behind the scenes look at him negotiating with the Washington Post on how to proceed with the story. Gellman even included some screenshots of the ‘classified’ slides which was cool. It was interesting to see the though process of him, as a reporter, and how he decided to frame different stories.

The bottom line you should take away from reading a book like this is, the government is not to be blindly trusted; they are your friend, until they aren’t.

This is a short book, if you don’t read this book about Snowden, at least read another one!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #6 in my #ReadingChallenge2021