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Facts and Fears
- Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 18 hrs and 43 mins
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Publisher's summary
New York Times best seller
The former director of National Intelligence's candid and compelling account of the intelligence community's successes - and failures - in facing some of the greatest threats to America
When he stepped down in January 2017 as the fourth United States director of national intelligence, James Clapper had been President Obama's senior intelligence adviser for six and a half years, longer than his three predecessors combined. He led the US intelligence community through a period that included the raid on Osama bin Laden, the Benghazi attack, the leaks of Edward Snowden, and Russia's influence operation during the 2016 US election campaign.
In Facts and Fears, Clapper traces his career through the growing threat of cyber attacks, his relationships with presidents and Congress, and the truth about Russia's role in the presidential election. He describes, in the wake of Snowden and WikiLeaks, his efforts to make intelligence more transparent and to push back against the suspicion that Americans' private lives are subject to surveillance. Finally, it was living through Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and seeing how the foundations of American democracy were - and continue to be - undermined by a foreign power that led him to break with his instincts honed through more than five decades in the intelligence profession to share his inside experience.
Clapper considers such controversial questions as: Is intelligence ethical? Is it moral to intercept communications or to photograph closed societies from orbit? What are the limits of what we should be allowed to do? What protections should we give to the private citizens of the world, not to mention our fellow Americans? Are there times when intelligence officers can lose credibility as unbiased reporters of hard truths by inserting themselves into policy decisions?
Facts and Fears offers a privileged look inside the US intelligence community and, with the frankness and professionalism for which James Clapper is known, addresses some of the most difficult challenges in our nation's history.
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"James Clapper has written the best book on intelligence in a generation.... At a critical time in our nation, [Clapper] offers a crucial insight into the threat we face.... His great sense of humor also makes the book a pleasure to read." (Brookings)
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Three and a half years ago, David Sanger’s book The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power described how a new American president came to office with the world on fire. Now, just as the 2012 presidential election battle begins, Sanger follows up with an eye-opening, news-packed account of how Obama has dealt with those challenges, relying on innovative weapons and reconfigured tools of American power to try to manage a series of new threats.
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Sobering reminder on what the presidency requires
- By Marilyn on 09-03-12
By: David E. Sanger
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The Watchers
- The Rise of America's Surveillance State
- By: Shane Harris
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
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Our surveillance state was born in the brain of Admiral John Poindexter in 1983. Poindexter, President Ronald Reagan's national security adviser, realized that the United States might have prevented the terrorist massacre of 241 Marines in Beirut if only intelligence agencies had been able to analyze in real time data they had on the attackers. Poindexter poured government know-how and funds into his dream---a system that would sift reams of data for signs of terrorist activity.
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Important context for privacy debate
- By Keefer on 09-17-11
By: Shane Harris
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The One Percent Doctrine
- Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11
- By: Ron Suskind
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Abridged
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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author Ron Suskind takes you deep inside America's real battles with violent, unrelenting terrorists, a game of kill-or-be-killed, from the Oval Office to the streets of Karachi.
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The Agenda is Clear
- By Penny on 09-28-11
By: Ron Suskind
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Directorate S
- The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
- By: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 28 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Resuming the narrative of his Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars, best-selling author Steve Coll tells for the first time the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11.
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Slow At Times But Always Horrifying And Engaging
- By Gillian on 02-20-18
By: Steve Coll
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Days of Fire
- Bush and Cheney in the White House
- By: Peter Baker
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 29 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Theirs was the most captivating American political partnership since Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger: a bold and untested president and his seasoned, relentless vice president. Confronted by one crisis after another, they struggled to protect the country, remake the world, and define their own relationship along the way. In Days of Fire, Peter Baker chronicles the history of the most consequential presidency in modern times through the prism of its two most compelling characters, capturing the elusive and shifting alliance of George Walker Bush and Richard Bruce Cheney as no historian has done before.
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A balanced account of the W and Cheney White House
- By Scott on 11-15-13
By: Peter Baker
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Shadow Strike
- Inside Israel's Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power
- By: Yaakov Katz
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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On September 6, 2007, shortly after midnight, Israeli fighters advanced on Deir ez-Zour in Syria. Israel often flew into Syria as a warning to President Bashar al-Assad. But this time, there was no warning and no explanation. This was a covert operation, with one goal: to destroy a nuclear reactor being built by North Korea under a tight veil of secrecy in the Syrian desert. Shadow Strike tells, for the first time, the story of the espionage, military might and psychological warfare behind Israel’s operation to stop one of the greatest known acts of nuclear proliferation.
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Important Book!
- By Gerald J. Vogt on 05-10-19
By: Yaakov Katz
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The President's Book of Secrets
- The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America's Presidents from Kennedy to Obama
- By: David Priess
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Every president has had a unique and complicated relationship with the intelligence community. While some have been coolly distant, even adversarial, others have found their intelligence agencies to be among the most valuable instruments of policy and power. Since John F. Kennedy's presidency, this relationship has been distilled into a personalized daily report: a short summary of what the intelligence apparatus considers the most crucial information for the president to know that day about global threats and opportunities.
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about the report and nothing but the report
- By Michael on 09-07-16
By: David Priess
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The Finish
- The Killing of Osama bin Laden
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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From Mark Bowden, internationally best-selling and acclaimed author of Black Hawk Down and the preeminent chronicler of the actions of our military and special forces writing today, comes an intensely gripping account of the hunt for and elimination of Osama bin Laden. With unprecedented access to key sources and his great gift for storytelling, Bowden takes us inside the rooms where decisions were made and on the ground where the action unfolded.
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Listen to No Easy Day...much better
- By JMM on 10-20-12
By: Mark Bowden
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88 Days to Kandahar
- A CIA Diary
- By: Robert L. Grenier
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In his gripping narrative, we meet General Tommy Franks, who bridles at CIA control of "his" war; General "Jafar Amin", a gruff Pakistani intelligence officer who saves Grenier from committing career suicide; Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's brilliant ambassador to the US, who tries to warn her government of the al-Qaeda threat; "Mark", the CIA operator who guides GulAgha Shirzai to bloody victory over the Taliban.
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Honest conclusion based on practical realities.
- By rehman on 03-30-15
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Chain of Command
- The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib
- By: Seymour M. Hersh
- Narrated by: Peter Friedman
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Abridged
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Since September 11, 2001, Seymour M. Hersh has riveted readers, and outraged the Bush Administration, with his stories in The New Yorker magazine, including his breakthrough pieces on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Now, in Chain of Command, he brings together this reporting, along with new revelations, to answer the critical question of the last three years: how did America get from that clear morning in September to a divisive and dirty war in Iraq?
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Absolutely Fantastic
- By Nicholas on 10-12-04
By: Seymour M. Hersh
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Hubris
- The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War
- By: Michael Isikoff, David Corn
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 18 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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This fast-paced, behind-the-scenes narrative tells the inside story of how the Bush administration used bad intelligence to sell and then justify the Iraq war. Veteran reporters Michael Isikoff and David Corn take the reader behind the scenes at the White House, the CIA, the Pentagon, the State Department, and Congress, where controversial decisions and turf battles were fought in the highest circles of the Bush administration.
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Hubris
- By Pamela on 12-19-06
By: Michael Isikoff, and others
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What listeners say about Facts and Fears
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- cathyfrommaine
- 05-23-18
Thank you Director Clapper
This book is not just a recitation of sleepy details but a wonderfully written story about the life of an incredibly interesting man. He generously shares his life from childhood to his retirement after a 50 year career in intelligence.
I am very worried about the direction this country is heading. I honestly believe that anyone who reads this book (even the 40%).....will mull over their current thinking of where we’ve been as a world power, where we are heading AND should we alter that trajectory.
Thank you Director for sharing yourself with your country both professionally and now as a much needed educational leader.
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50 people found this helpful
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- dan m
- 02-28-19
great book
one of the best books I've ever read , you get a close look at how government really works, I highly recommend it
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1 person found this helpful
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- Noreen Wise
- 08-26-18
Thank you for your insights!
Such valuable insights acquired through a life of public service. Thank you so much! Sharing with the American public your extremely tough decisions across the decades, serves as a guide for future generations. I’m left with the feeling that I must do my part to preserve the American democracy and the American Dream that I grew up believing in, and has always served as the brightest force in this dark world.
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-20-18
As riveting as Intelligence can get.
Truth to Power, calling like it is for over 50 years to service of our once great nation. The extent to which Russia and Putin are our greatest threat is explained to the informed American citizen. Despite the vulgar child in the White House's denials, the Russian influence campaign handed the election to trump. 3 swing states with less than 80000 votes decided this election. This is the truth, the facts, not spun by political agenda.
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- Elizabeth Escamilla
- 06-06-18
Mr Clapper YOU ARE MY HERO!!!
I love this book...it's so refreshing to hear a smart true American that loves our Country. completely the opposite of what we have in the White House a lunatic that cannot even speak nor act right, a total disgrace for America, with that said I gave enjoy the intelligence and the story of Mr Clapper's story as much as Mr Comney's book.
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- MaryB
- 07-14-18
Candid, informative, relevant, and often humorous
I really enjoyed listening to this book. I learned that James Clapper has devoted over 50 years of his life to the service of our country. I’ve seen him many times on television, but had no idea about his distinguished military career or his involvement in important national and world events as the Director of National Intelligence. His writing is humble and self-deprecating. He shares some of his most embarrassing moments, his regrets, and the tenderness he feels for Sue, his wife, his children, and grandchildren. He sets the record straight on many news cycles and shares his fears on the erosion of values and freedoms we hold dear as Americans. It’s a good read.
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- Sarah Lock
- 07-03-18
Truth to Power
Clapper does any excellent job of explaining his background and objective apolitical opinions and how his life has been about speaking truth to power regardless of how hard that may be. Excellent story of a life dedicated to public service. I'm grateful our country had such a humble and selfless man defend us for half a century!
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- Mike Williamson
- 08-25-18
Required Reading
I picked out this book on a whim after a quick scan of the reviews. I could NOT stop listening to it. It is terrifying and compelling and you won’t be able to look away. Great performance by Mark Bramhall who I felt channeled Mr Clapper.
I urge you to listen to (or read) this book.
Thank you, Mr Clapper for your service and for your honesty.
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- Scott
- 10-09-18
Truth to Power
excellent read. helped me to understand that We the People need to pay attention to in these upcoming elections. And that is that WE ALL need to vote.
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- Kerry
- 10-04-18
One of most important books written
I want to first state I support no political group. In saying that, This book is a must read. Gives people a fairly non biased factually account of how things in government and media have gone down. His account of trump and Russia at end, every one, I believe should know, no matter what their political views are
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