Reviews for No Place To Hide

by Glenn Greenwald

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Journalist and former constitutional lawyer Greenwald (With Liberty and Justice for Some) examines the impact of the revelations in the National Security Agency (NSA) documents leaked to him by Edward Snowden. It's a fascinating read as Greenwald, a longtime writer on issues of national security and Guardian columnist at the time, describes his interactions with the whistle-blower and provides an erudite, complete time line of the events pre- and -postpublication of the classified information. -Greenwald dismisses the "collect it all" policy of the NSA, maintaining that its overarching surveillance powers-routinely collecting and quantifying data on billions of communications worldwide-don't prevent acts of terror. Drawing on political theory and psychology, Greenwald likewise explains that the argument that law-abiding citizens aren't affected is fundamentally flawed, because even the simple threat of universal surveillance impacts human behavior. He is scathing in his analysis of the "establishment media" (Washington Post, New York Times, etc.), both for what he views as deference to the U.S. government on matters of publication and their coverage of the leak, including the question of whether he himself is a journalist-or merely a "blogger" or "activist"-afforded constitutional press protection. In his analysis, the author breaks down the dense NSA subject matter and uses excerpts and slides from the documents to illustrate his points, making this work readable for even those unfamiliar with the technical concepts. VERDICT Greenwald's delineation of the NSA's actions, as well as his arguments for the right of privacy and a robust adversarial press, makes this book a must-read.-Amanda -Mastrull, Library Journal (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Personalized account by Greenwald (With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful, 2011, etc.) regarding his encounters with Edward Snowden and their exposure of theNational Security Agency'sprogram of indiscriminate mass surveillance.The authors crisp, comprehensible outrage reflects the profound issues raised by Snowdens whistle-blowing: Thanks to Snowdens braverywe have an unparalleled firsthand look at the details of how the surveillance system actually operates. Greenwald first examines how the secretive Snowden reached out to him due to his experience in writing about the NSA. After contentious negotiations with his Guardian editors, Greenwald traveled to Hong Kong to interview Snowden prior to the first articles revealing the NSAs telephone and Internet monitoring endeavors: He exuded an extraordinary equanimity when talking about what the US government might do to him, writes the author. Next, Greenwald delves into a healthy selection of the NSA documents, providing excerpts and interpretations of PowerPoint presentations, training manuals and internal memos that demonstrate the chilling literality of the NSAs unofficial motto, Collect It All. The author portrays the NSA as the epitome of Orwellian overreach, "the definitive rogue agency: empowered to do whatever it wants with very little control, transparency, or accountability." Greenwald then narrates the response to these revelations, which included Snowden and himself being slandered as rabble-rousers. The authors partner was even detained at Heathrow Airport, while journalists like David Gregory suggested that Greenwald should face criminal charges. He depicts these responses to the legitimacy of his reporting for the Guardian as both menacing and absurd, while the attacks on Snowden were of course far more virulent. Greenwalds caustic assessment of this response, and his close analysis of NSA documents and tactics, go a long way to support his assessment that [g]iven the actual surveillance the NSA does, stopping terror is clearly a pretext.Greenwalds polemical tone does not lessen the disturbing quality of these revelations. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.