Snowden
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It's a safe bet that when a left-leaning political cartoonist like Rall (To Afghanistan and Back) authors an entire book about Snowden and his NSA whistle-blowing, it's not going to be a hit job. Still, this simplistic chapbook throws uncritical glory over its subject. Rall begins with an overly simplified and frequently made parallel between the current state of surveillance and George Orwell's 1984. Then he presents a pocket biography of Snowden, whose military service in 2003 failed ignominiously he was discharged without finishing his training. Snowden then worked as an NSA security guard, quickly vaulting up the pay and responsibility scale (a potentially fascinating chain of events that Rall skips over). Snowden's frustration in discovering the surveillance that the government insisted wasn't happening is palpable but, again, barely explored. The dramatic decision to go public as a whistle-blower and flee the country is told in a crisp outline, but the broader issues are not engaged so much as flung at the reader in broadsides. The Snowden story is one of the greatest of our time, but Rall is not the one to deliver it in serious fashion.
