Will You read Glenn Greenwald's Book on Edward Snowden "No Place to Hide"
Monday, May 12, 2014 at 9:28PM May 13, 2014 Glenn Greenwald’s “No Place to Hide” will be released.
There are all kinds of reviews coming out.
Books|Snowden's Story, Behind the Scenes
New York Times-The title of the journalist Glenn Greenwald's impassioned new book, “No Place to Hide,” comes from a chilling observation made in 1975 by ...
The Economist lets you know the perspective in the book which will give you an idea whether you want to read it or not.
Fans of Mr Snowden and Mr Greenwald will find much to enjoy in this colourful play-by-play and exploration of classified NSA activities. But critics can expect to come away unmoved. This is because Mr Greenwald is less a journalist than an activist—an écrivain engagé—a bias that he wears as a badge of honour.
As a result, the book is remarkably one-sided: Mr Snowden is the whistleblowing hero; Mr Greenwald righteously fights on the side of the angels. Even sympathetic readers will have a hard time accepting everything Mr Greenwald, a former litigator, argues in his case against American intelligence. Indeed, in some cases a bit of intelligence-gathering seems sensible, such as when the NSA snooped on a handful of UN delegations to find out their positions prior to a vote on sanctions against Iran. Disclosing this also seems unnecessarily harmful. But in Mr Greenwald’s telling, all American surveillance comes out looking badly.
The book is at its best when it shines light on Mr Snowden’s motives. He plainly acted with conviction, and he will likely go down in history as a hero. Yet Mr Greenwald fails to let readers reach their own conclusions about the NSA and Mr Snowden’s conduct, preferring to impose his partisan views. Perhaps that is to be expected when the storyteller is not just a messenger but also a protagonist.
