No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State

Glenn Greenwald

May 2014 · Sold by Metropolitan Books

About this ebook

A groundbreaking look at the NSA surveillance scandal, from the reporter who broke the story, Glenn Greenwald, star of Citizenfour, the Academy Award-winning documentary on Edward Snowden

In May 2013, Glenn Greenwald set out for Hong Kong to meet an anonymous source who claimed to have astonishing evidence of pervasive government spying and insisted on communicating only through heavily encrypted channels. That source turned out to be the 29-year-old NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden, and his revelations about the agency's widespread, systemic overreach proved to be some of the most explosive and consequential news in recent history, triggering a fierce debate over national security and information privacy. As the arguments rage on and the government considers various proposals for reform, it is clear that we have yet to see the full impact of Snowden's disclosures.

Now for the first time, Greenwald fits all the pieces together, recounting his high-intensity ten-day trip to Hong Kong, examining the broader implications of the surveillance detailed in his reporting for The Guardian, and revealing fresh information on the NSA's unprecedented abuse of power with never-before-seen documents entrusted to him by Snowden himself.

Going beyond NSA specifics, Greenwald also takes on the establishment media, excoriating their habitual avoidance of adversarial reporting on the government and their failure to serve the interests of the people. Finally, he asks what it means both for individuals and for a nation's political health when a government pries so invasively into the private lives of its citizens—and considers what safeguards and forms of oversight are necessary to protect democracy in the digital age. Coming at a landmark moment in American history, No Place to Hide is a fearless, incisive, and essential contribution to our understanding of the U.S. surveillance state.

Ratings and reviews

This book contains the entire Snowden narrative. You will be inspired by understanding how well Mr Snowden understood the risks of his actions. Mr greenwald then goes into great detail o many shocking programs and includes original source material. Finally he describes how entrenched the status quo is and how difficult it is to challenge it. Truly inspiring book.

The last time I read a book, over 5 pages, was in the 70's. This book has me entranced in every sense of the word.! I'm really enjoying the we morning hours now! Huge fan of Glenn Greenwald and Mr Snowden

This has to be one of the most relevant books I've read in a while. Read it in three days; couldn't put it down. If you don't get angry and paranoid after you finish this, you're not paying attention. Read it. Recommend it. This is very relevant.

About the author

Glenn Greenwald is the author of several bestsellers, including How Would a Patriot Act? and With Liberty and Justice for Some. Acclaimed as one of the 25 most influential political commentators by The Atlantic and one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy for 2013, Greenwald is a former constitutional law and civil rights attorney. He was a columnist for The Guardian until October, 2013, and is now building a new media organization. He is a frequent guest on CNN, MSNBC and various other television and radio outlets. His NSA reporting in 2013 has won numerous awards, including the top investigative journalism award for the 2013 Online Journalism Association, the Esso Award for Excellence in Reporting (the Brazilian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize), and the 2013 Pioneer Award from Electronic Frontier Foundation. He is also the recipient of the first annual I.F. Stone Award for Independent Journalism in 2009 and the 2010 Online Journalism Association Award for his investigative work on the arrest and detention of Bradley Manning. He is a frequent guest lecturer on college campuses and his work has appeared in many newspapers and political news magazines, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The American Conservative.