Reviews
No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State, by Glenn Greenwald
anetq's review against another edition
4.0
(Heard this one as an audiobook and in danish, courtesy of Danish Radio's technology program "Harddisken")
In a world where tech rules everything, and there is tech in everything - This is the world's greatest story. And as such it is amazing. The Snowden revelations have confirmed and exceeded the fears of even the most extreme tin-foil-hat-wearing pessimists. And our world is no longer the same.
This book tells the story of the nervous days in a Hong Kong hotel room and what followed as the truth about mass-surveillance hit the world's media.
The latter part of the book is an argument for press freedom which frankly isn't as exiting - even if Greenwald has valid points...
In a world where tech rules everything, and there is tech in everything - This is the world's greatest story. And as such it is amazing. The Snowden revelations have confirmed and exceeded the fears of even the most extreme tin-foil-hat-wearing pessimists. And our world is no longer the same.
This book tells the story of the nervous days in a Hong Kong hotel room and what followed as the truth about mass-surveillance hit the world's media.
The latter part of the book is an argument for press freedom which frankly isn't as exiting - even if Greenwald has valid points...
j_ess_reads's review against another edition
5.0
Captivating, thrilling, and terrifying. Greenwald knows how to tell a story, and I'm definitely going to read more about government surveillance, technology, and the threat to our (online) privacy in this next year.
charireads's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Should be required reading. Edward Snowden was extremely brave to risk everything to reveal the government's overreach in surveillance of the general populace. Glenn Greenwald takes all of the very technical documents, with tons of government acronyms and puts it in laymans terms so you can understand the extent of the situation. Very eye opening and very well written. Love that it's not political on either side of the aisle, just factual.
barkingcave's review against another edition
4.0
"Big Brother" is already here. See also the documentary "Terms and Conditions may apply" (available on Netflix).
debi246's review against another edition
4.0
No matter where your opinions lie, this book is important. The first half does a good job of explaining Snowden and Greenwald's interactions, although Snowden is really a minor part of the book. It also clarified why, even if you're not personally concerned about the government spying on your communication, it important for a society to be free of government interference ... and it's not all about terrorism. Also is makes me question more new/media sources and "personalities". Again, an important book.
diiaann's review against another edition
4.0
The book shows that it was written by a journalist in a good way. Clear and organized.
When the news appeared about the NSA surveillance, I was hardly shocked. In my mind, the clandestine nature of governments afford them a lot of power and reach.
Having read other in-depth, long reads about Snowden, Poitras, and Greenwald I enjoyed reading Greendwald’s backstory and how everything came to the surface. The agonizing wait for him to get Guardian publish. Some of the other articles were more theatrical and I appreciated Greenwald’s straightforward tale.
While in the US, I think there are feelings of superiority in our freedom of speech over countries with more repressive medias. In those countries, I find that things are taken with a grain of salt. Here, there is more complacency. Greenwald makes reminders several times that we should too question the picture presented by our media.
Greenwald’s makes appeals for freedom and privacy. Glen spends some time discussing Snowden and his motivations. It piqued my interest of who Snowden was and what the defense of him being a narcissist would be.
When the news appeared about the NSA surveillance, I was hardly shocked. In my mind, the clandestine nature of governments afford them a lot of power and reach.
Having read other in-depth, long reads about Snowden, Poitras, and Greenwald I enjoyed reading Greendwald’s backstory and how everything came to the surface. The agonizing wait for him to get Guardian publish. Some of the other articles were more theatrical and I appreciated Greenwald’s straightforward tale.
While in the US, I think there are feelings of superiority in our freedom of speech over countries with more repressive medias. In those countries, I find that things are taken with a grain of salt. Here, there is more complacency. Greenwald makes reminders several times that we should too question the picture presented by our media.
Greenwald’s makes appeals for freedom and privacy. Glen spends some time discussing Snowden and his motivations. It piqued my interest of who Snowden was and what the defense of him being a narcissist would be.
sbaunsgard's review against another edition
4.0
Important.
I think I was less scared on this than most people because I already knew from prior-to-Snowden reading of popular nonfiction books that the English government was doing this kind of thing YEARS ago, so I just assumed the US government was. So I guess I've been scared the whole time. I wish I could remember which book it was.
I think I was less scared on this than most people because I already knew from prior-to-Snowden reading of popular nonfiction books that the English government was doing this kind of thing YEARS ago, so I just assumed the US government was. So I guess I've been scared the whole time. I wish I could remember which book it was.
librarylapin's review against another edition
3.0
This is the story behind the story that went around in the media. It was good to read more detail but some of the very specific documentation got a bit redundant to the extent that I wouldn't recommend it on audio (which was the format I read it in).
bakkabennu's review against another edition
4.0
4.5. Very interesting and obviously I'm politically aligned w Glenn, but repetitive in some areas.