Permanent Record
by Edward Snowden
★ Top 25 book of 2019 · #23 on Best Books of 2019
Edward Snowden tells his own story, from a childhood spent growing up online to his work in intelligence agencies. He explains how he helped build a government mass surveillance system and what drove him to expose it in 2013.
Best for: Readers interested in privacy, surveillance and a whistleblower's personal account of the digital age
Permanent Record is #23 on BookWard's Best Books of 2019, out of 84 2019 books that cleared our data bar.
What Permanent Record is about
In 2013, at twenty-nine, Edward Snowden broke with the American intelligence world and exposed a secret effort by the US government to gather every phone call, text message and email. The result, he explained, would be mass surveillance able to look into the private lives of everyone on earth. Six years later, he tells for the first time how he helped build that system and why he chose to reveal it.
The memoir begins with his childhood in the suburbs around Washington, where he grew up online, and follows him through his postings with the CIA and NSA. It becomes the account of a young man who turned from spy to whistleblower, and then, in exile, to something like the conscience of the Internet. Readers who want to understand how digital privacy is shaped, who holds power over it, and what one person gave up to speak out will find an earnest, urgent and personal answer here.
Permanent Record on the Best Books of 2019
Permanent Record came out in 2019. Of the 84 books first published in 2019 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #23 on our Best Books of 2019 list.
Why it made the list: 307 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (56 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Reader favorite.
Nearby on the 2019 list
- The House in the Cerulean Sea T. J. Klune, #21
- Invisible Women Caroline Criado Perez, #22
- Anxious People Fredrik Backman, #24
See all Best Books of 2019 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2018 Best Books of 2020.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 214 want to read it, 11 are reading it now and 82 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 from 56 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 55 | 55% |
| Reader love | 100 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 58 | 20% |
Questions about Permanent Record
When was Permanent Record published?
Permanent Record by Edward Snowden was first published in 2019.
Was Permanent Record one of the best books of 2019?
Permanent Record is #23 on BookWard's Best Books of 2019, out of 84 2019 books that cleared our data bar. 307 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (56 ratings).
Why is Permanent Record on the Best Books of 2019 list?
307 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (56 ratings).
More of the best books of 2019
- Red, White & Royal Blue Casey McQuiston, #1
- A Good Girl's Guide to Murder Holly Jackson, #2
- Heartstopper, Volume 2 Alice Oseman, #3
- Guts Raina Telgemeier, #4
- The Silent Patient Alex Michaelides, #5
- The Wicked King Holly Black, #6
See the full Best Books of 2019, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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