Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the Surveillance State

(Paperback)

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The first master narrative of the surveillance state containing major agenda-setting revelations 'A remarkable, authentic and chilling expose of a global conspiracy that reads like a first-rate conspiracy thriller- a book of gripping, compulsive and disturbing impact' William Boyd Dark Mirror is the ultimate inside account of the vast, global surveillance network that now pervades all our lives. Barton Gellman's informant called himself 'Verax' - the truth-teller. It was only later that Verax unmasked himself as Edward Snowden. But Gellman's primary role in bringing Snowden's revelations to light, for which he shared the Pulitzer prize, is only the beginning of this gripping real-life spy story. Snowden unlocked the door- here Gellman describes what he found on the other side over the course of a years-long journey of investigation. It is also the story of his own escalating battle against unknown digital adversaries after he discovered his own name on a file in the NSA document trove and realised that he himself was under attack. Through a gripping narrative of paranoia, clandestine operations and jaw-dropping revelations, Dark Mirror delineates in full for the first time the hidden superstructure that connects government espionage with Silicon Valley and the most powerful corporation whose name you've never heard. Who is spying on us and why Here are the answers.

Reviews

A remarkable, authentic and chilling expos of a global conspiracy that reads like a first-rate conspiracy thriller: a book of gripping, compulsive and disturbing impact -- William Boyd
Engrossing His wariness makes Gellman a thorough, exacting reporter; it also makes him a marvelous narrator for this particular story, as he nimbly guides us through complex technical arcana and some stubborn ethical questions He deploys plenty of metaphors, not to adorn the stakes but to clarify them. He shows how discussions of medieval ramparts and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon are surprisingly pertinent to the architecture of mass surveillance. His voice is laconic and appealingly wry Dark Mirror would be simply pleasurable to read if the story it told didnt also happen to be frighteningly real * New York Times *
Partly a thriller, partly a deeper expos about the vast power the surveillance state, Dark Mirror is a riveting page-turner that captures the danger and drama of the most important leak of classified material in generations -- Carol Leonnig, three-time Pulitzer winner and bestselling author of A Very Stable Genius
Bart Gellman is that rare combination of a tenacious reporter, a clear explicator of the most complex subjects, and a first-rate storyteller, all rolled into one. This book is a deep exploration of a surveillance apparatus of unimaginable magnitude, a chronicle of Gellman's intense and sometimes fraught relationship with his enigmatic and controversial source, Edward Snowden, and an intimate, disarmingly candid reporter's notebook about what it's like to spend years watching the watchers, and realizing, along the way, that they are watching you back -- Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing
A riveting narrative of investigative reporting in the age of surveillance. It is a dramatic, authoritative account not only of the significance of Edward Snowdens revelations, but of what public interest journalism must overcome to inform citizens about their exposure to our dystopian Internet -- Steve Coll, Pulitzer-winning author of Ghost Wars

Author Bio

Barton Gellman is a prize-winning journalist and author whose awards include three Pulitzer Prizes, two George Polk Awards and Harvard's Goldsmith Prize for investigative reporting. Now based at the Century Foundation, Gellman was a correspondent for the Washington Post for over 20 years where he led the team that won the 2014 Pulitzer for Public Service for coverage of the global surveillance machinery. His bestselling Angler- The Cheney Vice Presidency was a New York Times Notable Book of 2008 and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.