Rating: 
Summary: A paradox
Review: This book had interesting parts and some very dull parts. There was too much ink wasted on small details that were boring and contributed little to the overall story.
Rating: 
Summary: National Security or Big Brother is Watching!
Review: This book is a fascinating and terrifying account of the history, purpose, and powers of the National Security Agency (NSA). The book traces the origins of this superorganization from the Black Chamber to the form it took during the Cold War era. (The book was written in 1982 so it does not discuss more modern developments.) The book takes you inside the NSA and examines its anatomy and organization, its requirements for entry, and much else. In the process it tells some fascinating stories of spies and double agents (which in itself is worth the read). Also, the book examines the culture of the NSA and its use of developments within linguistics and cryptography. (I read this book when I was in college and majoring in mathematics, so I was completely fascinated by this aspect of the organization.) But, perhaps the most terrifying aspect of the book (besides the fact that the NSA is watching you) is that the NSA is "above the law". In fact, the author writes, "Three decades after its creation, the NSA is still without a formal, statutory charter, the first reform called for by the Church Committee. Instead, there is a super hush-hush surveillance court that is virtually impotent; the FISA, which has enough loopholes and exceptions to render it nearly useless; and an executive order that was designed more to protect the intelligence community from the citizens than the citizens from the intelligence community. (p. 475)"The book does its best to give a clear picture of the NSA as it exists, and provides an introduction to the intelligence community and the world of classified information.
Rating: 
Summary: Protector or Predator?
Review: This book is frightening because it describes an agency almost wholly without oversight that has the capability and demonstrated wherewithal to eavesdrop on Americans or arrange to do so with friendly foreign governments.Such abuses have been documented on various news shows like 60 minutes.Also the Big Brother quality of NSA's Echelon project and how governments like Britain,Canada and Australia cooperate with the US in helping to spy on each other's citizens. Also the part where it describes the false pretense and deception by NSA officials in recruiting new hires is disturbing and one has to wonder if the NSA controls its employees through wiretaps and social engineering or if it exerts pressure on its employees and affiliates for political or other motives. NSA seems overly preoccupied with the in depth sexual profiles of its recruits and this also is highly disturbing. Though the agency must do much good, it is of great concern that this body may hide behind national security and thereby do almost anything it wants.
Rating: 
Summary: The Puzzle Palace : A Report on America's Most Secret Agency
Review: This book was written almost 20 years ago. Any information in here is good from a historical standpoint, and you may get an idea of what the direction was, but that is about it. If you want to get an idea of what the NSA is doing today, this isn't the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: A must for anyone who cares!
Review: This is an informative book which goes into great detail and is appropriate for someone interesting in researching a complicated subject. Though some report this book is "dry" in the literary sense, I found it more like a spy novel I couldn't put down. But then, my wife says I'm a nerd.
Rating:
Summary: Mostly Fiction
Review: This title should be filed as fiction. Spending several years working in the government section and having intimate knowledge of the inner workings at the NSA a significantly large portion of this book is fantasy. The earlier history portion of the book is very factual but if you are looking to gain insight on how the government "spies" on private citizens you won't find it in this title. You can get better entertainment value by watching MI-5.
Rating:
Summary: What Else Is Being Kept From Us?
Review: What a superb book with outstanding histories about the entire birthplace of code breaking and electronic interception. Excellent pure Excellence.
Rating:
Summary: Puzzled? No....... just a little confused
Review: What I want to know is how Morris Bamford got all his information. And, once the book was published, was he ever seen again?
Rating:
Summary: What's Bamford going to say next?
Review: When "The Puzzle Palace" first came out in 1982, it caused a certain amount of controversy and angst. Bamford now has a new book on NSA scheduled to appear this Spring. I wonder what it will contain? "The Puzzle Palace" was quite a good job of investigative reporting, especially considering the customary reluctance of NSA to reveal much about itself. I found "The Puzzle Palace" an interesting read, and I learned much from it that I had not learned during my 20 years of previous occasional contact with NSA. The book is not friendly to NSA, but neither is it muckraking. In the 1980s I wished that "The Puzzle Palace" had not been written; it seemed to me to contain considerable material that would have best been left unpublished (and would have been if the United States had anything like the British Official Secrets Act.) Looking back from the vantage point of 2001, I note only one brief item in "The Puzzle Palace" that I know harmed the United States, and in that case the harm was minor. (Furthermore, Bamford got that item from a senior NSA official, and may not have know that it was sensitive.) And I note several places where Bamford must have known certain things he chose to omit from "The Puzzle Palace" that might indeed have imperiled some aspect of national security, even though they were not, are not, and never have been classified. So, overall, I consider that Bamford walked the tightrope quite well in "The Puzzle Palace." It will be interesting not only to read his new book when it comes out, but also to compare the new book with "The Puzzle Palace." I intend to keep them side by side on my bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: Time Passed By.
Review: When this book came out in the early 80s it was the first thoroughly researched and non sensationalist treatment of our most obscure intelligence agency. Though it is now history and no longer current events. It still stands up as a reference but much has been revealed and released to the National Archives by the NSA since. Still valuable but not indispensible. Bamford's latest work on the same subject was done with much cooperation with the NSA directors of the last few years. Since the changes in cryptography and the end of the Cold War, this book has been overtaken by events.
| 
