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jonathanbabcock 's review for:
Permanent Record
by Edward Snowden
A compelling auto-biography of one of the 21st century's most notable whistleblowers. The book details Snowden's life, showing what events in moved him towards a life in the intelligence community, and his final decision to expose America's extensive and intrusive surveillance, both domestically and abroad. Snowden was able to explain a number of advanced technical systems in layman's terms as well, which I appreciated. While the scope of the technology is far beyond my understanding, I could still follow Snowden's explanations well enough to understand their importance and basic function.
The book was also extremely humanizing of Snowden, which I found enjoyable. In many ways, I feel that the autobiography was written in part to show that Snowden is a real human being, in contrast to the ugly picture painted by the government. Following his whistleblowing, many people took the extreme route of calling him a traitor, a sell-out, etc, and many even called for his death (were he to return to the United States he would likely still face execution). Permanent Record not only showed the necessity of why Snowden needed to go public, but it also shows his humanity.
The book was also extremely humanizing of Snowden, which I found enjoyable. In many ways, I feel that the autobiography was written in part to show that Snowden is a real human being, in contrast to the ugly picture painted by the government. Following his whistleblowing, many people took the extreme route of calling him a traitor, a sell-out, etc, and many even called for his death (were he to return to the United States he would likely still face execution). Permanent Record not only showed the necessity of why Snowden needed to go public, but it also shows his humanity.