Permanent Record cover art

Permanent Record

A Memoir of a Reluctant Whistleblower

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Permanent Record

By: Edward Snowden
Narrated by: Holter Graham
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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.

©Edward Snowden 2019 (P)2019 Macmillan Audio Activists Politicians Politics & Activism Social Sciences Surveillance Espionage Thought-Provoking Inspiring United States Hacking Computer Security

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All stars
Most relevant  
I can't recommend it highly enough.
I imagine just about everyone on the planet knows the general gist of Edward Snowden's story and his place in history. I followed his story carefully, watched interviews, watched Citizenfour, and the Stone movie. But the details revealed in this book still made my jaw drop. I had to replay several sections to make sure I wasn't hearing things.Truly scary stuff.
Snowden, I'm sure, was an extremely meticulous programmer/analyst/administrator. That fact doesn't necessarily guarantee he's going to be a good writer. But he most certainly is; the writing is superb, beautifully crafted, compelling stuff.
I've had a career in IT, so the technical stuff was of great interest to me. And it's detailed so clearly that someone without a technical background would still understand it.
The narration is excellent too, read by someone who seems to genuinely understand what he's reading, and to convey it 'from the heart'. An absolute must-read/must listen. And if, in writing this review, I've now appeared on some watch list somewhere: great! - I'm in excellent company!

Superbly written, totally gripping.

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My goodness, mixed feelings finishing this book.
Gratitude towards Edward Snowden for putting his life at risk to expose the Intelligence community.
Fear because typing a positive review on A book such as this can lead to being bookmarked. No pun intended.
Happy to be a European citizen where personal protection laws seem more rigid as opposed with extremely flexible US personal protection laws.
Overwhelmed With all the information I've just learnt.
Reflective on my past use and storage of information on the internet.
And finally Resolved to make changes in the future.
Thanks Edward Snowden, Brilliant book and very well narrated, I loved it.

WOW

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Everybody should read this and be thankful for Edward Snowden. A real Champion of the people.

Read. This. Book.

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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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What an amazingly selfless guy, we can and should thank Mr Snowden for this gift of a book, his candidacy should be celebrated. I’m an avid reader and this is my favourite book for a very long time.

A selflessly candid account from a legend

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this was eye opening and scary. Really loved Holter Grahams performance! This is no doubt the best book I've "read" so far.

Frick me this was scary

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very good narration and insight. Would love to meet him and find out more.

V.good

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Great listen for anyone concerned about government overreach and the attack on our privacy and freedom. Act now before it's too late.

Fascinating, frightening and brilliant

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Story is remarkable, Snowden just is an honest man something that's never seen in people of power nowadays. Hopefully now the volcano ashe will start to settle and bring new life out of it :)

Mr. Snowden for president

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It is a good book but not great. It starts slow, with Ed talking about his childhood and it’s not terribly interesting. The HK chapter is probably the strongest. Not a lot of info about the Russian years.

A good listen

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