Washington's Spies

Washington's Spies

Author: Alexander Rose

Publisher: Bantam

Published: 2014-03-25

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 055339259X

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Turn: Washington’s Spies, now an original series on AMC Based on remarkable new research, acclaimed historian Alexander Rose brings to life the true story of the spy ring that helped America win the Revolutionary War. For the first time, Rose takes us beyond the battlefront and deep into the shadowy underworld of double agents and triple crosses, covert operations and code breaking, and unmasks the courageous, flawed men who inhabited this wilderness of mirrors—including the spymaster at the heart of it all. In the summer of 1778, with the war poised to turn in his favor, General George Washington desperately needed to know where the British would strike next. To that end, he unleashed his secret weapon: an unlikely ring of spies in New York charged with discovering the enemy’s battle plans and military strategy. Washington’s small band included a young Quaker torn between political principle and family loyalty, a swashbuckling sailor addicted to the perils of espionage, a hard-drinking barkeep, a Yale-educated cavalryman and friend of the doomed Nathan Hale, and a peaceful, sickly farmer who begged Washington to let him retire but who always came through in the end. Personally guiding these imperfect everyday heroes was Washington himself. In an era when officers were gentlemen, and gentlemen didn’ t spy, he possessed an extraordinary talent for deception—and proved an adept spymaster. The men he mentored were dubbed the Culper Ring. The British secret service tried to hunt them down, but they escaped by the closest of shaves thanks to their ciphers, dead drops, and invisible ink. Rose’s thrilling narrative tells the unknown story of the Revolution–the murderous intelligence war, gunrunning and kidnapping, defectors and executioners—that has never appeared in the history books. But Washington’s Spies is also a spirited, touching account of friendship and trust, fear and betrayal, amid the dark and silent world of the spy.


NSA Secrets

NSA Secrets

Author: The Washington Post

Publisher: Diversion Books

Published: 2013-12-17

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1626812128

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The Pulitzer Prize–winning investigation into surveillance abuses and the Edward Snowden case that brought them to light. The NSA's extensive surveillance program has led Americans to question threats to their privacy. As reported by the Washington Post, in their Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of whistleblower Edward Snowden's NSA leaks, NSA Secrets delves into the shadowy world of information gathering, exposing how data about you is being collected every day. From his earliest encrypted exchanges with reporters, Edward Snowden knew he was a man in danger. Sitting on a mountain of incriminating evidence about the NSA surveillance programs, Snowden was prepared to risk his freedom, and his very life, to let the world know about the perceived overreach of the NSA and the massive collection of personal information that was carried out in the name of national security by the U.S. government. The Washington Post’s complete coverage of the NSA spying scandal, which it helped break, is now collected in one place to give as comprehensive a view of the story as is known. From the first contact with Snowden to the latest revelations in worldwide cellphone tracking, the award-winning reporters at the Post have vigorously reported on the scope of the NSA’s surveillance. Snowden called the internet “a TV that watches you,” and accused the government of “abusing [it] in secret to extend their powers beyond what is necessary and appropriate.” Here, the secrets of those who tried in vain to remain in the shadows are revealed.