Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book - but scary!
Review: James Bamford did a excellent job on presenting the subject of the NSA. Scary that the NSA has all that power and technology to listen/read/capture - Voice and Data lines - coming in and out of the US. I never realize how close the NSA joint effort with English/Canada and Austriala was. A must read for every US Person - A real EYE OPENER on our tax dollars at work.Jonathan
Rating: 
Summary: Pulling Back the Curtain
Review: Put this book in time context. When Bamford wrote about the NSA in 1982, only a few Americans had ever heard of the super secret spy agency. I venture that most were unaware of its existence, mission or history, including the fact that its dark budget superceded all other U.S. spy agencies combined (yes even the CIA). It's release caused a little consternation because NSA was getting exposed for the first time. I was concerned that it might be too revelatory but nonetheless I read with fascination.
Bamford does an excellent job of chronicling the origins of NSA and pulling back the curtain to display the leaders, culture, methodologies, operations, budget, successes, failures, employees and other components of this signals intelligence vacuum pump. It was at the time possibly the only avenue for the average citizen to discover how, what, when and where the NSA conducted its business. You would have been surprised to learn how sophisticated the palace was as far back as 1952. (Capturing the cockpit conversation of the Russian pilots who shot down the KLM flight during the Reagan presidency was one example of NSA's unique abilities.) It is like seeing the B-2 bomber unveiled and then realizing it is the culmination of 20 years development. Wonder what they are capable of now?
I'm glad we lead the world in such intelligence gathering and today's events make the work of NSA more valuable than ever. The best and brightest of our mathmeticians, code breakers, techno-geeks and others work there. Thank goodness they work for us. With the advent of the internet, more detailed information on NSA may be readily available. But if you want to read one book on NSA, this should be your introduction and base station.
Rating:
Summary: Review: Classified
Review: Sorry, that's on a need to know basis at this time
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Taught me more than I wanted to know. Good stuff
Rating:
Summary: Good overall intro to a scary agency
Review: The book does a great job of discussing an enigmatic agency but i have more questions. For example, if the NSA has the most advanced technology, does it indirectly control the economy somewhat by discreetly obsoleting technology? For example, until about 1 year ago, DVD was not so common now it is everywhere and I wonder if NSA doesnt introduce the technology into the marketplace by declassification and manufacturers who get contracts from NSA help move the product by withdrawing previously existing technologies,in this case VHS videotape. Also the agency seems like one that would exert excessive control over its employees with enormous invasions of privacy and personal liberty. The most disturbing aspect to it however is the ability of the agency to act without recourse to the legal system. Also, is it possible that anyone who becomes anyone of note in society must pass certain govt security parameters and if this is the case, does it mean that all powerful people in the country are there only because they have been blessed by the likes of NSA or CIA,including the President?
Rating:
Summary: Best book on SIGINT, best use of open sources
Review: The book is nothing short of sensational, for two reasons: itis the first and still the only really comprehensive look at globalsignals intelligence operations as dominated by the National Security Agency; and second, because all of his research was done using only open sources, including unclassified employee newsletters at Alice Springs, and he did a great job of making the most out of legally and ethically available information. James is still around, working on another book about SIGINT, and I believe that only he will be able to top this one.
Rating:
Summary: What happened, when is book was released!
Review: The year is 1984, and Washington D.C. is a buzz with the release of the "Puzzle Palace" a year earlier. You see, prior to the book; the "security oath" was based on 20 years from which hence you left the classified work. That is if you had access to classified material, and once you were debriefed; you couldn't talk, write, draw, etc... anything to do with what you had access to for twenty years. However, after the "Puzzle Palace" was released, all that changed. ALL PERSONS having access to "Top Secret" classified materials were required to re-affirm their "security oaths". But the new "oath" stated that the new policy was fifty (50) years of silence. And if for example: you went to work as a civilian in the same job that you had while in the military; or, had access to classified material. From the date that you no longer had access, is when the 50 year period would start. Now others' would say that this change was a long time coming; and that it had nothing to do with the book. However I know the true facts, but I can't reveal my sources until the year 2042.
Rating:
Summary: The Three Stooges [Not the Authors]
Review: There are three books that I would ask all Americans to read. This reviewed title, and "The Book of Honor" by Ted Gup; "The Secret History of the CIA" by Joseph J. Trento. I submit: We are so very fortunate to be around in America to cajole and laugh and speak and eat and live with the pervasive malaise that is brought to light within this globe by the three aforementioned titles. We all take for granted our freedoms and rights without knowing the costs associated with these "inalienable rights". Ted Gups book describes the Heroes. Bamfords book describes the abstract, history and the goals. Joseph Trento book asks the question, "Does History repeat itself?" (those that are enlightened know the 'correct' answer to this). We are doomed unless we change: I hope I am not around for my take on this.
Rating:
Summary: "Gentlemen do NOT read each others' mail... "
Review: Think you know the difference between Right and Wrong? Are you VERY sure? You won't be after you read Bamford's book. Did you know the NSA tried to take over the National Science Foundation, because the NSF gave Research Grants in Mathematics that could be used in CRYPTO Applications? You won't see most of what is in this book in any local school districts' High School US History Text. As a matter of fact, my first brush with Intelligence was as a 10th Grade ROTC cadet, when our Army ROTC Instructor told us there was a facility just north of San Francisco that "Listened and Recorded" ALL telephone conversations Entering, Transiting, or Exiting the United States. I thought he was looney... until I read Bamford's book 16 years later. I read a review in Newsweek Magazine on "The Puzzle Palace", and was so captured by it that I made sure I was first in line to get a copy. I was shocked and horrorized at what I read... - The LIBERTY INCIDENT with Israel (you WILL have an opinion!!),
- the EC-121 INCIDENT with North Korea,
- the PUEBLO INCIDENT with North Korea,
- the U-2 INCIDENT with Russia,
- the BAY OF PIGS INCIDENT with Cuba,
Who was Herbert Yardley?
What was the "BLACK CHAMBER"?
Where is ALICE SPRINGS (the local Tour Bus brochure says "... and we shall also drive by the American Spy Complex as a part of our Tour)? How about Secretary of State Stimson ("Gentlemen do NOT read each other's mail... " -- upon finding out about what had gone on during the War, and firing everyone)? You too (unless you are already "In the Business")will be blown away at the goings on NSA was (and still is) involved in collecting when you read this book (NSA tried to prevent it's publication)! Homosexuals and spying, Interfering in the Internal Affairs of a Foreign Country (to keep Alice Springs), illegal wiretapping (with the permission of the wire company for "patriotic reasons"), Black Bag jobs (they kept running into Foreign Agents (you find out in the book who they are) who were doing the same thing at the same places at the same times at night -- the fastest way to decrypt a message is to STEAL the KEY, yes?), Political Assassinations (read about the Bulgarian Secret Agent who murdered (to silence) a Voice of America DJ with a Poisoned Pelet (titanium, the size of a grain of sand, cross drilled and filled with germs -- it was just a Speck on the Autopsy X-Ray) shot into the victum's leg with a Dart, "Dirty Tricks" (we seem to have a photo of you with... ) Still think you know RIGHT from WRONG? Read the book, and then answer.
Rating:
Summary: "Gentlemen do NOT read each others' mail... "
Review: Think you know the difference between Right and Wrong? Are you VERY sure? You won't be after you read Bamford's book. Did you know the NSA tried to take over the National Science Foundation, because the NSF gave Research Grants in Mathematics that could be used in CRYPTO Applications? You won't see most of what is in this book in any local school districts' High School US History Text. As a matter of fact, my first brush with Intelligence was as a 10th Grade ROTC cadet, when our Army ROTC Instructor told us there was a facility just north of San Francisco that "Listened and Recorded" ALL telephone conversations Entering, Transiting, or Exiting the United States. I thought he was looney... until I read Bamford's book 16 years later. I read a review in Newsweek Magazine on "The Puzzle Palace", and was so captured by it that I made sure I was first in line to get a copy. I was shocked and horrorized at what I read... - The LIBERTY INCIDENT with Israel (you WILL have an opinion!!),
- the EC-121 INCIDENT with North Korea,
- the PUEBLO INCIDENT with North Korea,
- the U-2 INCIDENT with Russia,
- the BAY OF PIGS INCIDENT with Cuba,
Who was Herbert Yardley?
What was the "BLACK CHAMBER"?
Where is ALICE SPRINGS (the local Tour Bus brochure says "... and we shall also drive by the American Spy Complex as a part of our Tour)? How about Secretary of State Stimson ("Gentlemen do NOT read each other's mail... " -- upon finding out about what had gone on during the War, and firing everyone)? You too (unless you are already "In the Business")will be blown away at the goings on NSA was (and still is) involved in collecting when you read this book (NSA tried to prevent it's publication)! Homosexuals and spying, Interfering in the Internal Affairs of a Foreign Country (to keep Alice Springs), illegal wiretapping (with the permission of the wire company for "patriotic reasons"), Black Bag jobs (they kept running into Foreign Agents (you find out in the book who they are) who were doing the same thing at the same places at the same times at night -- the fastest way to decrypt a message is to STEAL the KEY, yes?), Political Assassinations (read about the Bulgarian Secret Agent who murdered (to silence) a Voice of America DJ with a Poisoned Pelet (titanium, the size of a grain of sand, cross drilled and filled with germs -- it was just a Speck on the Autopsy X-Ray) shot into the victum's leg with a Dart, "Dirty Tricks" (we seem to have a photo of you with... ) Still think you know RIGHT from WRONG? Read the book, and then answer.
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