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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Really wanted to give this 5 stars. (I admit it's more for what Bellingcat does than for the book itself) But a chunk about identifying and verifying the Russian operatives that did the poisoning in the UK got a bit boring and my mind just drifted while reading it.
I understand it's necessary tho. Not sure if it was intentional. How the research was done was described in detail and the message would be "everyone can do it". I really like this message because it's a good mirror for people thinking retweeting/sharing IS activism. Here's something that doesn't require any more special skills than retweeting and sharing but you need to put in the time to comb through thousands of images and videos trying to find a match. Building database of conflicts before they become useful (and they may not be at the end).
I understand it's necessary tho. Not sure if it was intentional. How the research was done was described in detail and the message would be "everyone can do it". I really like this message because it's a good mirror for people thinking retweeting/sharing IS activism. Here's something that doesn't require any more special skills than retweeting and sharing but you need to put in the time to comb through thousands of images and videos trying to find a match. Building database of conflicts before they become useful (and they may not be at the end).
Been on my TBR for a while, and I’m very glad I read it. The parts of this book that pulled me in REALLY pulled me in. I wish everything unfolded in a more narrative manner or things were sorted more by topic, because it felt like the topic was jumping around even within chapters. On a positive note, I found myself asking questions as I read (and having many of those questions answered!) which was nice because it got me thinking critically about the material, which is a sign at least to me that the material reaches a certain threshold of engaging and thought-out
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Not the most well written book but interesting and inspiring enough.
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
It's a pretty basic "how it happened" for the OSINT collective. I think I was hoping for more, somehow. The writing isn't great, by any means, but that seems to add to the sense of accessibility. It truly feels like an everyman got this ball rolling and not some diamond in the rough genius who was in the right place at the right time. That said, it seems inevitable that a better book will be written about them one day.
I received a copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was vaguely familiar with Bellingcat before reading this book, mostly through Robert Evans and his podcast Behind the Bastards, but I’d also read some of their research reports on geolocation for Interpol. I really enjoyed learning about how the organisation started; previously their open-source investigation techniques had seemed too complex and obscure for me to ever understand but I found this book really demystified them (and tempted me to get involved myself, since it’s apparently not as hard as it looks!). It was also fun to see Robert Evans mentioned by name, especially his work on right-wing online radicalisation, which I was already aware of and find fascinating.
Obviously, this is hardly an unbiased source on Bellingcat, who I know are somewhat politically contentious. But I’ve always admired their work and am not ashamed to admit I’m no fan of the Russian government, Assad regime, or other human-rights abusers, so I had a great time. In general, it made me feel really hopeful about the future too - one of Higgins’ central points is that the internet can be used as a tool for good, for combatting disinformation as well as spreading it.
Higgins is naturally the perfect person to write a book about the origins of Bellingcat, seeing as he founded it. But it’s also a fairly well-written book, aided by the fact that it comes with its own ready-made mystery/detective arcs in the form of Bellingcat’s various investigative projects (it particularly focuses on their investigations of various shady dealings from the Russian state, including the Malaysian Airlines passenger plane and the Salisbury Novichok poisonings). I found them really gripping - these were stories I’d heard about vaguely in the news at the time, but it was fascinating to see just how involved Bellingcat had been and to track each fresh revelation. I finished the book quickly and would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in Bellingcat’s work, or open source investigation generally.
I was vaguely familiar with Bellingcat before reading this book, mostly through Robert Evans and his podcast Behind the Bastards, but I’d also read some of their research reports on geolocation for Interpol. I really enjoyed learning about how the organisation started; previously their open-source investigation techniques had seemed too complex and obscure for me to ever understand but I found this book really demystified them (and tempted me to get involved myself, since it’s apparently not as hard as it looks!). It was also fun to see Robert Evans mentioned by name, especially his work on right-wing online radicalisation, which I was already aware of and find fascinating.
Obviously, this is hardly an unbiased source on Bellingcat, who I know are somewhat politically contentious. But I’ve always admired their work and am not ashamed to admit I’m no fan of the Russian government, Assad regime, or other human-rights abusers, so I had a great time. In general, it made me feel really hopeful about the future too - one of Higgins’ central points is that the internet can be used as a tool for good, for combatting disinformation as well as spreading it.
Higgins is naturally the perfect person to write a book about the origins of Bellingcat, seeing as he founded it. But it’s also a fairly well-written book, aided by the fact that it comes with its own ready-made mystery/detective arcs in the form of Bellingcat’s various investigative projects (it particularly focuses on their investigations of various shady dealings from the Russian state, including the Malaysian Airlines passenger plane and the Salisbury Novichok poisonings). I found them really gripping - these were stories I’d heard about vaguely in the news at the time, but it was fascinating to see just how involved Bellingcat had been and to track each fresh revelation. I finished the book quickly and would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in Bellingcat’s work, or open source investigation generally.
A fantastic read and one that gives hope and a practical way forward, to face the challenges of disinformation.