Permanent Record: A Memoir of a Reluctant Whistleblower
Sep 2019 · Pan Macmillan
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81 reviews
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About this ebook
The Sunday Times top ten bestseller.
Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.
In 2013, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth. Here, Snowden reveals for the very first time how he helped to build this system and why he was moved to expose it.
Spanning the bucolic Beltway suburbs of his childhood and the clandestine CIA and NSA postings of his adulthood, Permanent Record is the extraordinary account of a bright young man who grew up online – a man who became a spy, a whistleblower, and, in exile, the Internet’s conscience.
Written with wit, grace, passion, and an unflinching candor, Permanent Record is a crucial memoir of our digital age.
'A riveting account . . . Reads like a literary thriller' - New York Times
Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.
In 2013, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth. Here, Snowden reveals for the very first time how he helped to build this system and why he was moved to expose it.
Spanning the bucolic Beltway suburbs of his childhood and the clandestine CIA and NSA postings of his adulthood, Permanent Record is the extraordinary account of a bright young man who grew up online – a man who became a spy, a whistleblower, and, in exile, the Internet’s conscience.
Written with wit, grace, passion, and an unflinching candor, Permanent Record is a crucial memoir of our digital age.
'A riveting account . . . Reads like a literary thriller' - New York Times
The Sunday Times top ten bestseller.
Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.
In 2013, t...
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Ratings and reviews
81 reviews
L W
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January 22, 2026
I strongly advise against buying this "something". Readers who read with understanding or expect to obtain any useful information related to the title of the book will be disappointed. The author is an uneducated man with complexes, systematically emphasizing what a brilliant man he is and what complicated "cases" he dealt with. Unfortunately these complicated "cases" are not to be found in this "something." Instead, we face a struggle with arguments, attempts to create definitions and views of the human world at the level of a moderately smart child with little life experience. The peak of generating useless pages is probably to include a "prepared" girl's diary, which is a steak of more useless information. Buying this "something" is a waste of time, money and paper. The publisher also did not mention in the book's description that the author has Russian citizenship, which confirms the thesis that he was recruited and led by Russia probably throughout his whole professional career.
Lucy Robson
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May 22, 2020
A work of great importance. I loved the chronology of this book from Ed's encounters behind the curtain watching his dad play the first video games, to the sharp rise of the internet and his musings on what it has and will become. Simply outstanding.
13 people found this review helpful
Bernelle Verster
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November 8, 2022
great, yet easy reading. very quotable.
About the author
Edward Snowden was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and grew up in the shadow of Fort Meade. A systems engineer by training, he served as an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, and worked as a contractor for the National Security Agency. He has received numerous awards for his public service, including the Right Livelihood Award, the German Whistleblower Prize, the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, and the Carl von Ossietzky Medal from the International League of Human Rights. He serves as president of the board of directors of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Permanent Record is his revealing memoir.
Edward Snowden was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and grew up in the shadow of Fort Meade. A systems engineer by training, he served as an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, and worked as a contractor for the National Security Agency. He has received numerous awards for his publ...
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