Dark Mirror

Rezensionen / Stimmen

A remarkable, authentic and chilling expose of a global conspiracy that reads like a first-rate conspiracy thriller: a book of gripping, compulsive and disturbing impact -- William Boyd 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 ... 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 ... Dark Mirror would be simply pleasurable to read if the story it told didn't also happen to be frighteningly real * New York Times * Partly a thriller, partly a deeper expose about the vast power the surveillance state, Dark Mirror is a riveting page-turner that captures the danger and drama of the most important leak of classified material in generations -- Carol Leonnig, three-time Pulitzer winner and bestselling author of A Very Stable Genius Bart Gellman is that rare combination of a tenacious reporter, a clear explicator of the most complex subjects, and a first-rate storyteller, all rolled into one. This book is a deep exploration of a surveillance apparatus of unimaginable magnitude, a chronicle of Gellman's intense and sometimes fraught relationship with his enigmatic and controversial source, Edward Snowden, and an intimate, disarmingly candid reporter's notebook about what it's like to spend years watching the watchers, and realizing, along the way, that they are watching you back -- Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing A riveting narrative of investigative reporting in the age of surveillance. It is a dramatic, authoritative account not only of the significance of Edward Snowden's revelations, but of what public interest journalism must overcome to inform citizens about their exposure to our dystopian Internet -- Steve Coll, Pulitzer-winning author of Ghost Wars Dark Mirror stands out from all the other accounts. Gellman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning ... investigative reporter ... didn't just use the Snowden files as sources; he used them as starting points for deep, labor-intensive reporting * Washington Post * Enthralling ... 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 [to] provide new and scary technical detail -- Luke Harding * Guardian * It is not hard to imagine the heart-stopping excitement of receiving the great trove of secrets that Edward Snowden sent to Barton Gellman ... a necessary and deep meditation about how far our online lives can or indeed should remain completely private * Sunday Times * A cyberspace thriller where even knowing the ending renders it no less gripping ... A much more nuanced piece of writing [than Poitras's, Greenwald's and Snowden's accounts] ... both credible and readable ... It is impossible not admire Gellman's industry and journalistic courage * Standpoint * Fascinating ... Gellman ... did more than any other journalist to make [Snowden's] story public ... cautious, agonised, philosophical, responsible * The Times *