... engrossing ... His wariness makes Gellman a thorough, exacting reporter; it also makes him a marvelous narrator for this particular story, as he nimbly guides us through complex technical arcana and some stubborn ethical questions. Instead of rushing toward a conclusion, he hangs back. He’s clear about what he knows and what he doesn’t. He deploys plenty of metaphors, not to adorn the stakes but to clarify them. He shows how discussions of medieval ramparts and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon are surprisingly pertinent to the architecture of mass surveillance ... His voice is laconic and appealingly wry ... would be simply pleasurable to read if the story it told didn’t also happen to be frighteningly real.
... a major contribution largely absent in the earlier efforts ... Gellman offers the most detailed, comprehensive and balanced take on the impact of Snowden's 2013 revelations and what they mean today, as the debate on national security versus individual privacy keeps evolving ... Gellman offers a very human portrayal of Snowden: a loner, filled with zeal and a black-and-white worldview ... all this back-and-forth, between Gellman and Snowden, and Gellman and national security officials, is the best part of a compelling book.
Gellman wants us to know that he’s not in the pocket of Big Snowden, and he flaunts his independence throughout Dark Mirror ... Rather than make Gellman seem more objective, the tough-guy talk—especially so late in the game—only makes Snowden seem more guileless, saintly ... Where Dark Mirror shows the advantage of Gellman’s...methodical approach is in its second half ... You can read parts of it as a defense of journalism’s utility at a moment of intense anxiety. It’s a weird time to make that argument. There are a lot of things to expose, but then, nothing happens ... In an early conversation with Verax, Gellman shares an anecdote that reads as a parable. In 1977 he was writing on his high school paper when the principal killed a story about birth control. Aggrieved, Gellman filed a First Amendment lawsuit against her in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The school district 'ran out the clock'—bogged him down in delays—and the principal threatened to write a scarlet-letter note in Gellman’s college file. 'The lasting lesson . . . was how easily we were crushed,' he tells Snowden. The lasting lesson of Dark Mirror is that sometimes you aren’t crushed.
... a series of lively exchanges, fallings out and making ups. It is a fine and deeply considered portrait of the US-dominated 21st-century surveillance state ... Gellman has waited seven years to give his version. He has spent the time well—delving into some of the more abstruse programmes from the Snowden archive, and talking to sources from the tech and security worlds. Dark Mirror doesn’t alter what we have known since 2013: that the NSA and its British counterpart GCHQ routinely sweep up virtually all of our communications. But it does provide new and scary technical detail ... The most enthralling chapters cover the race to get the story out.
What Gellman provides us with, in fact, as he trawls through the investigations he undertook into NSA malfeasance in the wake of Snowden’s data drop, is a necessary and deep meditation about how far our online lives can or indeed should remain completely private. Gellman, unlike Snowden, is able to interrogate American spymasters as well as tech companies about where the limits should lie, and he also has a sufficient sense of his responsibilities not to reveal much of the sensitive operational detail that the leaker gave him ... The value of this book is that Gellman eschews the binary 'traitor or hero' assessment of Snowden. Rather he highlights the dangers of the surveillance state’s vast reach.
Gellman narrates all the twist and turns of this story with a gusto worthy of John le Carré ... That air of menace hangs over Dark Mirror, mainly because Gellman himself is always mentioning it ... The narrative presents precious few footholds for empathy, either for Snowden or for U.S. government officials. Right down the chain of command, the latter come across extremely poorly ... And Gellman inserts himself into the book to a degree that seems unnecessary ... The Snowden of Dark Mirror embodies a noxious combination of arrogance and self-pity...[unlike] the semi-heroic figure that Gellman perhaps intended to paint, or the modern-day saint venerated by an entire generation of young people. But Gellman’s Snowden is a truth teller nonetheless.
... a thorough overview of the circumstances and consequences of [the Snowden leak]. One doesn’t have to necessarily agree with Gellman’s premise that Snowden’s exposure 'did more good than harm' in order to find this account of the ensuing legal and ethical questions surrounding NSA’s counterintelligence efforts to be an engaging one ... Gellman effectively details the scope and ambition of the NSA, and has written a well-documented account on the far-reaching impact of U.S. domestic surveillance and the resulting intrusions of privacy; highly recommended both for general readers and those with an interest in national security.
Gellman’s masterful narrative proceeds along two primary tracks. One relates the life story of the whistleblower, the now-famous Edward Snowden. The other is a primer about investigative journalism regarding one of the highest-risk exposés in U.S. history. As the author unspools his own saga, he also delivers an endlessly insightful narrative about the practice of investigative journalism, a book that deserves its place alongside All the President’s Men, Five Days at Memorial, Nickel and Dimed, and other classics of the genre ... Explaining the illegal government surveillance requires cutting through a mountain of technological jargon, a task the author handles expertly. A riveting, timely book sure to be one of the most significant of the year.
... an eloquent behind-the-scenes account of his reporting on NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s leak ... Enriching the high-level technical and legal analysis with a sharp sense of humor, Gellman presents an exhaustive study of intelligence gathering in the digital age. Even readers who have followed the Snowden story closely will learn something new.
Gellman provides new insights to this saga based on his own research and reflection .... Foremost a journalist, Gellman delivers a compelling story while recounting difficult predicaments and behind-the-scenes events. He takes a deep dive into the surveillance state while recalling being subjected to government investigations, legal pressures, and threats from foreign agencies determined to steal his files. Readers will be drawn into the conversational style of the book. It will be of interest to conspiracy theorist, historians, those interested in technology and surveillance, and readers looking for a balanced view of this notorious government leak.
