Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
Everybody knows about the CIA--the cloak-and-dagger branch of the U.S. government. Many fewer are familiar with the National Security Agency, even though it has been more important to American espionage in recent years than its better-known counterpart. The NSA is responsible for much of the intelligence gathering done via technology such as satellites and the Internet. Its home office in Maryland "contains what is probably the largest body of secrets ever created."
Little was known about the agency's confidential culture until veteran journalist James Bamford blew the lid off in 1982 with his bestseller The Puzzle Palace. Still, much remained in the shadows. In Body of Secrets, Bamford throws much more light on his subject--and he reveals loads of shocking information. The story of the U-2 crisis in 1960 is well known, including President Eisenhower's decision to tell a fib to the public in order to protect a national-security secret. Bamford takes the story a disturbing step forward, showing how Eisenhower "went so far as to order his Cabinet officers to hide his involvement in the scandal even while under oath. At least one Cabinet member directly lied to the committee, a fact known to Eisenhower." Even more worrisome is another revelation, from the Kennedy years: "The Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up and approved plans for what may be the most corrupt plan ever created by the U.S. government. In the name of anticommunism, they proposed launching a secret and bloody war of terrorism against their own country in order to trick the American public into supporting an ill-conceived war they intended to launch against Cuba."
Body of Secrets is an incredible piece of journalism, and it paints a deeply troubling portrait of an agency about which the public knows next to nothing. Fans of The Sword and the Shield will want to read it, as will anybody who is intrigued by conspiracies and real-life spy stories. --John J. Miller
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Prepare to Be Amazed
Customer Rating:
An illuminating look behind the curtain at an agency that was unknown for so long. Bamford's history of the NSA reveals so many AMAZING secrets that were classified until shortly before his book was published:
- Eisenhower frequently sent fighter/bomber formations into Soviet airspace to see how far they could get before being detected, and how quickly the Soviet air defenses could react. This provocative action led to aircraft being shot down on several occasions before they could get out of Soviet airspace, and lives were lost. This finally ended when Gary Powers' U-2 was shot down.
-The reason we wanted the UN in New York? To make spying on everyone easier!
-The USS Liberty saw Israelis massacre 150 Egyptian POWs... so the Israelis tried to sink it, fully knowing it was a U.S. gov't ship.
All in all, a very readable, very informative book. While every page doesn't have jaw-dropping secrets from US history, there are enough to ensure you'll have fun while learning a bit of history.
One excellent point of education was the many disasters in our history resulting from agencies not sharing information. One thing Bush did right was making sure that something like 9/11 will never happen again because of this inter-service rivalry.
A very enjoyable book. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that it's not as cutting edge as when I first read it. (Body of Secrets was published within one-two years of many classified documents being made public.)
Brutal
Customer Rating:
As intriguing as a lot of the subject matter is, this was a terribly written book in my opinion and i think two stars is really stretching it. Some of the historical incidents were interesting, but i really don't find descriptions of the offices, parking lots, sewage systems, etc. of the NSA. This is a great example of how a good idea translated into a boring, hard to digest book.
Compelling but Misguided
Customer Rating:
Horribly exaggerated by a journalist that tries to present personal insight as historical fact. He makes outrageous allegations that are wildly misguided and unproven. He is persuasive in his arguments, which make his assertions even more dangerous and outright foolishness.
It is a compelling read. Just be careful what you perceive as storytelling, what is attempted journalism, and what is fact.
Good INsight to Sigint History
Customer Rating:
Jeffrey W. Bennett, author of ISP Certification-The Industrial Security Professional Exam Manualand Under the Lontar Palm
This book is well written and an easy read of one of the most fascinating agencies of all time. Mr. Bamford has performed exhaustive research into the workings of the super-secret NSA. Personally, I have a long history as a intelligence analyst during the Cold War and reading this book brings back a lot of memories of the history and working of the world at the time. Thanks for putting this work together.
Good Book, Not Just SIGINT Though
Customer Rating:
This was a worthwhile read. It covers several of the key intelligence operations that were spearheaded by the NSA during the close of the cold war and during the beginning of the middle-eastern anti-terrorism campaign. While this book is informative and entertaining, it is not about just the NSA. Many of the intelligence missions detailed in this work can be accredited to other agencies. But that isn't a major issue. Overall it is a very interesting read that should be required for anyone interested in the basic foundations of the field of modern SIGINT or the broad impacts of signals intelligence analysis.
Select button not working? 
