Body Of Secrets

(Paperback)

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Description

The NSA is the largest, most secretive and most powerful intelligence agency in the world. It dwarfs the CIA in budgets, manpower and influence. Using internal documents and interviews with NSA officials, this text offers details about the workings of the agency. It exposes the role the NSA played in many Soviet bloc Cold War conflicts and discusses its undercover involvement in the Vietnam War. Author, James Bamford, also looks at the technological advances that the NSA have employed since 1985 and brings to light the NSA's network of global surveillance ranging from on-line listening post to intelligence-gathering satellites. Bamford warns that the NSA is a double-edged sword, its eavesdropping offers the potential for tracking down terrorists and uncovering nuclear weapons deals, but it also has the capacity to listen in on global personal communications.

Reviews

A magnificent achievement and a compelling read for anyone interested in espionage. "The Baltimore Sun
"Extraordinary. . . . A galvanizing narrative brimming with heretofore undisclosed details. "The New York Times Book Review
" Crisply written and prodigiously researched, "Body of Secrets" . . . is the most detailed picture yet of the activities of the worlds largest intelligence-gathering operation. "The Washington Post Book World"
Part history, part expose, the book offers an anatomy of the NSA, seeking to strip away the myth surrounding it. . . . [An] authoritative and engaging book. "The Wall Street Journal"
"Body of Secrets" is one fascinating bookchock-full of juicy stuff. Interesting to read, well-written and scrupulously documented."Salon"
An engaging and informed history. Bamford weaves a narrative about
"A magnificent achievement and a compelling read for anyone interested in espionage." --"The Baltimore Sun
""Extraordinary. . . . A galvanizing narrative brimming with heretofore undisclosed details." --"The New York Times Book Review
" "Crisply written and prodigiously researched, "Body of Secrets" . . . is the most detailed picture yet of the activities of the world's largest intelligence-gathering operation." --"The Washington Post Book World"
"Part history, part expose, the book offers an 'anatomy' of the NSA, seeking to strip away the myth surrounding it. . . . [An] authoritative and engaging book." -"The Wall Street Journal"
""Body of Secrets" is one fascinating book...chock-full of juicy stuff.... Interesting to read, well-written and scrupulously documented."-"Salon"
"An engaging and informed history.... Bamford weaves a narrative about the NSA that includes...many heretofore undisclosed tidbits of information."-"The Nation"
"James Bamford, who wrote one of the really good books about American intelligence twenty years ago...has now done it again.... "Body of Secrets" has something interesting and important to add to many episodes of cold war history...[and] has much to say about recent events."-"The New York Review of Books"
"At times surprising, often quite troubling but always fascinating.... Writing with a flair and clarity that rivals those of the best spy novelists, Bamford has created a masterpiece of investigative reporting."-"Publishers Weekly "(starred review)
""Body of Secrets "adds fresh material about the world's nosiest and most secret body.... Will fascinate anyone interested in the shadow war."-"The Economist"

Author Bio

James Bamford is the author of THE PUZZLE PALACE, a bestseller in the US when it was first published, and now regarded as a classic. Until recently he was Washington Investigative Producer for ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, and has written investigative cover stories for The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, and The Los Angeles Time Magazine.