Permanent Record

Edward Snowden

Book Synopsis

"Permanent Record" by Edward Snowden is a gripping memoir that unveils the author's journey from a promising young intelligence officer to becoming one of the most notorious whistleblowers in recent history.

Spanning across several continents and chronicling his time working for the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Snowden explores the extensive surveillance programs employed by the United States government in the name of national security.

As he conscientiously documents the shocking extent of mass data collection and interceptions, Snowden becomes increasingly disillusioned with the moral implications and far-reaching consequences of these practices. Motivated by his firm belief in privacy as a fundamental human right, he decides to leak classified documents to the public.

The book bravely delves into the personal sacrifices and struggles Snowden faces as he goes on the run, leaving behind his family, friends, and a comfortable life to seek refuge in Hong Kong and later in Russia. He exposes the lengths governments will go to silence dissent and the complex legal battles that follow his revelations.

"Permanent Record" serves as a powerful cautionary tale, highlighting the urgent need for transparency and accountability in a digital age where personal information is constantly under surveillance. A testament to one individual's commitment to truth, this memoir challenges readers to question the balance between privacy and security and encourages them to reevaluate their own ideas of liberty and democracy.

In this intimate and thought-provoking narrative, Snowden, a deeply principled whistleblower, pulls back the curtain on the pervasive reach of government surveillance while urging readers to demand greater respect for privacy and fundamental human rights.

Explore More Books

See All
Influence
Beating The Street
Success
She Said
Facing Love Addiction
What It Takes
Necessary Dreams
Bet The Farm
The Messy Middle
The Holy Grail of Investing
The Power of Myth
The Parasitic Mind
The Upanishads
Artificial Intelligence
Focus
Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track
Peak
The Persian Expedition
The Fall
To Sell is Human
Expert Political Judgement
The Bottomless Well
The Mathematics of Politics
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
The Omnivore's Dilemma
One Simple Idea
How To Turn Down A Billion Dollars
At Home in the Universe
Energy Transitions
Growth IQ
Distant Force
Information
Intellectual Life in the Middle Ages
Spiritual Enlightenment, the Damnedest Thing
Modern Times
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Way of Kings
The Grid
The Cost Disease
The Sun Also Rises
The Better Angels of our Nature
Built from Scratch
The Inevitable
Pandaemonium
Once a Warrior
Technofeudalism
Understanding Comics
The Search
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
The Long Tail
The History of the Future
Bad Therapy
Have Space Suit - Will Travel
Game of Thorns
Pebbles of Perception
The Cultural Cold War
Rebooting AI
The Tao of Charlie Munger
Patient Capital
Xi Jinping: The Governance of China
How To Avoid a Climate Disaster
The Beak of the Finch
The Art of  Scientific Investigation
The Company
The PayPal Wars
Elvis Cole Series
Human Compatible
Monsoon
So Good They Can't Ignore You
A Pattern Language
Change.edu
Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish
Why Buy Bitcoin
Knowledge and Decisions
Eisenhower
1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die
Heaven on Earth
The Ancient City
Good To Great
Tap Dancing to Work
Being With Dying
Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?
Daemon
Don't Feed the Monkey Mind
The Sleepwalkers
Impro
Diocletian and the Roman Recovery
Cryptonomicon
The Count of Monte Cristo
Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
Adaptive Markets
Mastering The Market Cycle
The Book of Life
No Filter
Inside the Rise of HBO
Discourses on Livy
The Lean Startup
Son of the Morning Star
The Purple Cow
Wild Swans