Rave Review Permanent Record

“The father held the boy tighter, and the boy straightened up, and with his dark crescent eyes, looked directly that the US government had quietly awarded itself the right to monitor everything we do, including our most intimate behaviour. In his superb memoir – in between fascinating stuff about being a spy – Snowden reminds us of the scope of US surveillance, and its fourth-amendment-trashing illegality. His bravery made him the target of the same technologies he once controlled, and his escape from Hong Kong reads like a thriller. Sadly, he is unlikely to see any royalties from a book destined to be a classic. After its publication in September, the US government filed a civil lawsuit against him – but not to halt publication. They just want the money.