Permanent Record cover art

Permanent Record

A Memoir of a Reluctant Whistleblower

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About this listen

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER

Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.

In 2013, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth. Six years later, Snowden reveals for the very first time how he helped to build this system and why he was moved to expose it.

Spanning the bucolic Beltway suburbs of his childhood and the clandestine CIA and NSA postings of his adulthood, Permanent Record is the extraordinary account of a bright young man who grew up online – a man who became a spy, a whistleblower, and, in exile, the Internet’s conscience. Written with wit, grace, passion, and an unflinching candor, Permanent Record is a crucial memoir of our digital age and destined to be a classic.

 Activists Freedom & Security Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government Social Sciences Surveillance Espionage Thought-Provoking Inspiring Hacking Government Russia Computer Security Imperial Japan

Critic reviews

Riveting, pacy
The world's most famous whistleblower
Fascinating
A riveting account . . . Reads like a literary thriller
Gripping
His disclosures of mass surveillance and bulk collection of personal information are as relevant now as they were in 2013
Full of surprises . . . A deeply reluctant whistleblower . . . he deserves our thanks
Well-written
A very significant figure in the history of intelligence
Thriller plot
A thoughtful and elegantly written book (Steven Poole, New Statesmen)
All stars
Most relevant
What a great listen. A great book with a tremendous true story. Hard to put down. Turkey world changing

Thoughtful, eye opening, very personal biography

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Whatever you think of Ed Snowden's actions, you owe it to yourself to read this book. It gives the listener a fascinating insight into the world of modern spying.

Everyone should read this book

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Narrator says "pacifically" instead of specifically. otherwise it was a decent book, I just wish we had more detail on the tech side.

decent book

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Eye opening! nicely read and explained. A must read for anyone living in the world right now

Must read!!

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I was expecting it to be interesting, but the big surprise was how well written it was, how well structured the book was, how there were just enough narrative hooks and wit to get you through the well-explained techno jargon, so that the book never exhausted me, and that I finished the audio in a few sittings over two days. The audio itself was competent, and often I felt the reader was enjoying it! I will be recommending it to everyone. It's the perfect mix of a manifesto and an intimate statement.

Surpassing expectations

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