The Shadow Factory
The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America
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Narrated by:
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Robertson Dean
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By:
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James Bamford
About this listen
Today's National Security Agency is the largest, most costly, and most technologically advanced spy organization the world has ever known. It is also the most intrusive, secretly filtering millions of phone calls and e-mails an hour in the United States and around the world. Half a million people live on its watch list, and the number grows by the thousands every month. Has America become a surveillance state?
In The Shadow Factory, James Bamford, the foremost expert on National Security Agency, charts its transformation since 9/11, as the legendary code breakers turned their ears away from outside enemies, such as the Soviet Union, and inward to enemies whose communications increasingly crisscross America.
Fast-paced and riveting, The Shadow Factory is about a world unseen by Americans without the highest security clearances. But it is a world in which even their most intimate whispers may no longer be private.
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- Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Now, in the first book ever written about this ultrasecretive department, the former director of OTS teams up with an internationally renowned intelligence historian to give listeners an unprecedented look at the devices and operations deemed "inappropriate for public disclosure" by the CIA just two years ago.
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Unique, informative history of the CIA
- By Richard on 07-29-08
By: Robert Wallace, and others
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Code Warriors
- NSA's Codebreakers and the Secret Intelligence War Against the Soviet Union
- By: Stephen Budiansky
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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The National Security Agency was born out of the legendary codebreaking programs of World War II that cracked the famed Enigma machine and other German and Japanese codes, thereby turning the tide of Allied victory. In the postwar years, as the United States developed a new enemy in the Soviet Union, our intelligence community found itself targeting not soldiers on the battlefield, but suspected spies, foreign leaders, and even American citizens.
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Did Vladimir Putin Steal the American Election?
- By Cynthia on 12-01-16
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Operation Shakespeare
- The True Story of an Elite International Sting
- By: John Shiffman
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
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In Operation Shakespeare, investigative journalist John Shiffman traces a high-risk undercover operation launched by an elite undercover Homeland Security unit created to stop the Iranians, Russians, Chinese, Pakistanis, and North Koreans from acquiring sophisticated American-made electronics capable of guiding missiles, jamming radar, and triggering countless weapons - from wireless IEDs to nuclear bombs.
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under our noses
- By Andy on 08-20-14
By: John Shiffman
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The Secrets of the FBI
- By: Ronald Kessler
- Narrated by: Michael Bybee
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
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The Secrets of the FBI by New York Times best-selling author Ronald Kessler reveals the FBIs most closely guarded secrets and the secrets of celebrities, politicians, and movie stars uncovered by agents during their investigations.
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Even-handed; an interesting history of the FBI
- By G-Man on 08-08-11
By: Ronald Kessler
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Raven Rock
- The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself - While the Rest of Us Die
- By: Garrett M. Graff
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
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A fresh window on American history: the eye-opening truth about the government's secret plans to survive a catastrophic attack on US soil, even if the rest of us die - a road map that spans from the dawn of the nuclear age to today.
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Awesome Read!!
- By Brewer Richardson on 05-05-17
By: Garrett M. Graff
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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
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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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Countdown to Zero Day
- Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon
- By: Kim Zetter
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 13 hrs
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The virus now known as Stuxnet was unlike any other piece of malware built before: Rather than simply hijacking targeted computers or stealing information from them, it proved that a piece of code could escape the digital realm and wreak actual, physical destruction—in this case, on an Iranian nuclear facility.
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Amazingly detailed, sober and above all, damning
- By Greg on 11-22-14
By: Kim Zetter
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Enemies Within
- Inside the NYPD's Secret Spying Unit and bin Laden's Final Plot Against America
- By: Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
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In Enemies Within Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman lay bare the complex and often contradictory state of counterterrorism and intelligence in America through the pursuit of Najibullah Zazi, a terrorist bomber who trained under one of bin Laden's most trusted deputies. Zazi and his coconspirators represented America's greatest fear: a terrorist cell operating inside America. Apuzzo and Goldman lift the veil of secrecy to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of our counterterrorism measures.
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Very in depth. I highly detailed account.
- By Patrick on 10-08-20
By: Matt Apuzzo, and others
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Good Hunting
- An American Spymaster's Story
- By: Jack Devine
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Good Hunting: An American Spymaster's Story is the spellbinding memoir of Devine's time in the CIA, where he served for more than 30 years, rising to become the acting deputy director of operations, responsible for all of the agency's spying operations. This is a story of intrigue and high-stakes maneuvering - all the more gripping when the fate of our geopolitical order hangs in the balance. But this audiobook also sounds a warning to our nation's decision makers.
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Fascinating, An education on spying
- By Anthony on 12-13-15
By: Jack Devine
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A must read before you vote
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Best narrator - Malcolm Hillgartner
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From Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, the untold story of the CIA's secret paramilitary units.
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Lots of facts, offset by too much fiction
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Phenomena
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For more than 40 years, the US government has researched extrasensory perception, using it in attempts to locate hostages, fugitives, secret bases, and downed fighter jets, to divine other nations' secrets, and even to predict future threats to national security. The intelligence agencies and military services involved include CIA, DIA, NSA, DEA, the navy, air force, and army - and even the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Now, for the first time, New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen tells the story of these radical, controversial programs.
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Phenomenally mediocre narration of a good book
- By philip on 05-18-17
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The Devil's Chessboard
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An explosive, headline-making portrait of Allen Dulles, the man who transformed the CIA into the most powerful - and secretive - colossus in Washington, from the founder of Salon.com and author of the New York Times best seller Brothers.
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Disturbing. Makes you question the company line.
- By KTS on 02-06-16
By: David Talbot
What listeners say about The Shadow Factory
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Bryon
- 10-13-09
Great book for those interested in cyber-warfare
This is a great book for those interested in information security and cyber-warfare. The narrator is easy on the ears but does pronounce some of tech jargon wrong at times. I did find the section about the hearings boring but relevant to the story. Some of the topics seem to meander off but are quickly tied back in later to how the NSA works and deals with issues. Great insight on the hiring practices.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Richard
- 02-23-13
the Shadow Factory?
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
eveyone in america need to read this book.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Shadow Factory?
how the government can bend the constutition / laws and still screw everything up. if this book is 1/2 true we the people are the ones screwed. gun conrol will never work if these people are in control.
Which scene was your favorite?
how tax payer dollars are used to do nothing.
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
every page
Any additional comments?
after read this where do we hide? after also reading "Below Eagles" by Vick Fallon I have little to expect from any government.
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1 person found this helpful
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- luizr1
- 03-09-23
Great insight on a very secretive agency and culture
Great insight on a very secretive agency and her inner workings, in many ways knowing they capabilities gives one an Orwellian feeling that big brother is watching every sound, every whisper and soon very soon our thinking.
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- Alan
- 08-03-11
Great Book
A very good read/listen! The only problem I have with it is; the author completely buys into the 911 story. The author does such a great job investigating other subjects; he seemed to repeat what everyone heard on Fox/CNN.
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1 person found this helpful
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- K. Foster
- 07-18-15
Very Operationally Detailed
What did you love best about The Shadow Factory?
The amount of information in this book and the way it was woven together gave excellent context to the operations, methods and tactics of the NSA. I am a bit concerned this book may be TOO open about this content, not sure someone from the government cleared the content for release.
If you could give The Shadow Factory a new subtitle, what would it be?
How the NSA collects, analyzes, and uses everyone's information
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- LongerILiveLessIKnow
- 08-06-13
Intersection of national security and big data.
By chance, I read this book and In the Plex (a Google biography) one after the other. It made for an interesting side-by-side. Both have massive data storage facilities and, in their different ways, brilliantly make sense of mountains of data. Both kinda creep us out. When I type “what sound does a g…,” google auto fills “giraffe make” – nailing what I was going to query. And when the NSA snags a 6 second audio clip of a most wanted terrorist in a jeep in a remote part of the desert thousands of miles away, Bamford tells us how the NSA/CIA not only IDs him, but destroys his jeep with a hellfire missile within 40 minutes.
The first quarter of the book pre-dates NSA’s big data days. It details the 9/11 hijacker’s movements within the United States just prior to the attack, while telling the parallel story of NSA’s intelligence gathering and communication failures with the FBI/CIA.
The second part of the book deals with NSA’s growth post-9/11 and its gathering of massive amounts of data on citizens and non-citizens. Politics aside, I was interested in the nuts and bolts of how the NSA captures the data.
The third part explores NSA’s growing reliance on government contractors, including several Israeli ex-military types that apparently concern James Bamford.
I’m trying to make sense of the big data world we find ourselves in and the commercial and government titans who are figuring out how to wield it. This book was a helpful piece of the puzzle.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- ThatGuy
- 04-21-09
Ehhhh
I bit of a rambling history of the NSA with an obvious bias. Too often the author deviates from a "just the facts ma'am" approach to provide his own editorial. It was informative, but could have been an hour shorter easy.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Ann Victory
- 03-01-15
Wow
I always joked that what I searched online or said or bought would put me on a government list, and I always thought it was not true... Until now.
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- steve hages
- 06-11-18
Love the book, my first audio book.
I am retired ASA/INSCOM tec-no-neard. With 5 years at VHFS and 5 years HQ AFSOUTH NATO PAC OPS. I was in NATO for first Golf War.
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- Joshua Kim
- 06-10-12
NSA Sunshine Policy
The Shadow Factory takes us on a behind the scenes tour of the NSA and the development of what Bamford calls "The Surveillance Industrial Complex" following 9/11.
I read this book less from a perspective of worry about government intrusion or even national security - but more from a desire to understand the technology that the NSA utilizes to manage such large volumes of data.
What the NSA does in terms of data storage, analysis, capture etc. is truly next generation. After 9/11 - the NSA became an IT organization with a blank check to throw as much hardware, software and folks at a technical problem as it needed. Can you imagine if we had those resources to throw technology at education.
Sure...the story of the Bush's administrations warrant-less wiretapping is scary. I'm grateful that he tells this story and exposes this dirty side of our history.
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