
Dark Mirror
Edward Snowden and the Surveillance State
by Barton Gellman
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Pub Date 21 May 2020 | Archive Date 20 Jun 2020
Random House UK, Vintage Publishing | Bodley Head
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Description
'A remarkable, authentic and chilling exposé of a global conspiracy that reads like a first-rate conspiracy thriller: a book of gripping, compulsive and disturbing impact' William Boyd
Dark Mirror is the ultimate inside account of the vast, global surveillance network that now pervades all our lives.
Barton Gellman’s informant called himself ‘Verax’ – the truth-teller. It was only later that Verax unmasked himself as Edward Snowden. But Gellman’s primary role in bringing Snowden’s revelations to light, for which he shared the Pulitzer prize, is only the beginning of this gripping real-life spy story. Snowden unlocked the door: here Gellman describes what he found on the other side over the course of a years-long journey of investigation. It is also the story of his own escalating battle against unknown digital adversaries after he discovered his own name on a file in the leaked document trove and realised that he himself was under attack.
Through a gripping narrative of paranoia, clandestine operations and jaw-dropping revelations, Dark Mirror delineates in full for the first time the hidden superstructure that connects government espionage with Silicon Valley. Who is spying on us and why? Here are the answers.
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781847923110 |
PRICE | £20.00 (GBP) |
PAGES | 448 |
Featured Reviews

I am currently on a bit of a spree reading journalistic works and have been mightily impressed with the spare, fact loaded type of journalism that is still, somehow, eminently readable. The last book I read that really worked that way on me was 'A Civil Action' by Jonathan Harr. The writing was non pareil and stripped back to its bare essentials.
Barton Gellman works a similar number here, his writing is assured as it covers fairly complex ground, explaining why Snowden was able to gather such a mass of sensitive files. Thankfully he is able to simplify this for the layman and it makes his account all the more readable.
Of course it has all the usual clandestine elements that would make a superb thriller, Snowden slowly builts up trust with Gellman and a documentary film-maker, he uses his fieldcraft in this respect.
The book builds up and never disappoints, it takes something which has the potential to be a stilted, convoluted read and treats the material with respect, it makes things readable but doesn't dumb it down to the level of an airport novel.
The book, quite simply, held me all the way through, I never got bored and I always wanted to know where the narrative would go next.
Recommended.