Short description
Bamford, bestselling author of "The Puzzle Palace, " has written another fascinating, unrestricted, and controversial look into the secretive, powerful, and massive National Security Agency. A major work of history and investigative journalism, "Body of Secrets" is a riveting analysis of this powerful agency's history and its future.
Long description
The National Security Agency is the world's most powerful, most far-reaching espionage. Now with a new afterword describing the security lapses that preceded the attacks of September 11, 2001, Body of Secrets takes us to the inner sanctum of America's spy world. In the follow-up to his bestselling Puzzle Palace, James Banford reveals the NSA's hidden role in the most volatile world events of the past, and its desperate scramble to meet the frightening challenges of today and tomorrow. Here is a scrupulously documented account-much of which is based on unprecedented access to previously undisclosed documents-of the agency's tireless hunt for intelligence on enemies and allies alike. Body of secrets is a riveting analysis of this most clandestine of agencies, a major work of history and investigative journalism.
Review
A magnificent achievement and a compelling read for anyone interested in espionage. -- The Baltimore Sun
Extraordinary. . . . A galvanizing narrative brimming with heretofore undisclosed details. -- The New York Times Book Review
Crisply written and prodigiously researched, Body of Secrets . . . is the most detailed picture yet of the activities of the world's largest intelligence-gathering operation. -- The Washington Post Book World
Part history, part expose, the book offers an 'anatomy' of the NSA, seeking to strip away the myth surrounding it. . . . [An] authoritative and engaging book. - The Wall Street Journal
Body of Secrets is one fascinating book...chock-full of juicy stuff.... Interesting to read, well-written and scrupulously documented. - Salon
An engaging and informed history.... Bamford weaves a narrative about the NSA that includes...many heretofore undisclosed tidbits of information. - The Nation
James Bamford, who wrote one of the really good books about American intelligence twenty years ago...has now done it again.... Body of Secrets has something interesting and important to add to many episodes of cold war history...[and] has much to say about recent events. - The New York Review of Books
At times surprising, often quite troubling but always fascinating.... Writing with a flair and clarity that rivals those of the best spy novelists, Bamford has created a masterpiece of investigative reporting. - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Body of Secrets adds fresh material about the world's nosiest and most secret body.... Will fascinate anyone interested in the shadow war. - The Economist