Shop Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Buy used:
$38.00
Used: Like New | Details
Sold by coach media
Condition: Used: Like New
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Added to

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

James Bamford
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America Hardcover – Bargain Price, October 14, 2008

by James Bamford (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 401 ratings
See all formats and editions
James Bamford exposed the existence of the top-secret National Security Agency in the bestselling The Puzzle Palace and continued to probe into its workings in his follow-up bestseller, Body of Secrets. Now Bamford discloses inside, often shocking information about the transformation of the NSA in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 2001.

In THE SHADOW FACTORY, Bamford shows how the NSA’s failure to detect the presence of two of the 9/11 hijackers inside the United States led the NSA to abandon its long-held policy of spying only on enemies outside the country. Instead, after 9/11 it turned its almost limitless ability to listen in on friend and foe alike over to the Bush Administration to use as a weapon in the war on terror. With unrivaled access to sources and documents, Bamford details how the agency has conducted domestic surveillance without court approval, and he frames it in the context of the NSA’s ongoing hunt for information about today’s elusive enemies.

THE SHADOW FACTORY is a riveting read for anyone concerned about civil liberties and America’s security in the post-9/11 world.
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    395 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Doubleday
  4. Publication date
    October 14, 2008
  5. Dimensions
    6.4 x 1.15 x 9.5 inches
  6. See all details
Next slide of product details
The%20Amazon%20Book%20Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
401 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find the book readable and well-researched. They find the information quality good, with great insight into the NSA and how the world has been spied on. Many describe the content as scary, chilling, and believable. However, some find the pacing tedious and repetitive at times, making it difficult to stay interested.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more
ReadabilityInformation qualityScariness levelValue for moneyPacing
59 customers mention "Readability"54 positive5 negative

Customers find the book readable and interesting. They say it's a good chronology of an intelligence agency. The book provides an in-depth look at the failures of intelligence leading up to the events.

"Quite an eye-opener into the "vacuum cleaner" methodology for monitoring the world's communications. Completely engrossing from start to finish...." Read more

"...None of this should stop you from picking up this fascinating read...." Read more

"I am in the security assurance field and this is a must read for everyone...." Read more

"...you get the point, it's all put into context. This is a very good book, well researched, well organized and put together...." Read more

45 customers mention "Information quality"38 positive7 negative

Customers find the book provides a comprehensive and revealing look at the NSA. They appreciate the well-researched and detailed information, including shocking facts. The book provides a good overview of how the NSA works and how there is no oversight. It also covers technology that has helped the NSA do its job effectively.

"...James Bamford provides wonderful insight into the workings of NSA, and the changes in collection techniques necessitated by our constantly evolving..." Read more

"James Bamford has written a fascinating account of the National Security Agency and the technology and techniques employed by the NSA pre- and..." Read more

"Bamford's latest book is certainly well researched, and comes to some alarming conclusions: Israel has virtually bugged the entire world, and our..." Read more

"...The book is impeccably researched and while it finishes in 2010, it is relevant since this is the information we see in today's headlines!..." Read more

11 customers mention "Scariness level"8 positive3 negative

Customers find the book's account of the NSA's information gathering techniques fascinating and chilling. They describe it as believable and well-written.

"...good read and scary stuff, but I always knew the gov wanted to know everything about everyone if they could find a way to do it, that was semi legal...." Read more

"A fascinating if frightening read about the NSA, their information gathering techniques, how far-reaching their tendrils travel, and how little..." Read more

"This is a scary book...." Read more

"Fascinating and scary at the same time...." Read more

4 customers mention "Value for money"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's value for money. They say it's worth the price.

"...At times not the easiest read, but on balance enlightening and worth every cent. A great reference source, as well." Read more

"Good book great value" Read more

"...It is worth the price." Read more

"Excellent quality, price and service. Highly recommended." Read more

8 customers mention "Pacing"0 positive8 negative

Customers find the book's pacing tedious and repetitive. They find it difficult to stay interested due to its incoherence and repetition.

"...At other points, the book becomes tedious as the reader becomes lost in discussion of terabytes, gigabytes, and all the various bytes...." Read more

"...This wasn't a fun read but I'm glad I spent the time getting through it. I learned a lot." Read more

"...The book is REALLY REALLY boring and incoherent...." Read more

"...But after this early part of the book the rest eventually seemed to become repetitive. I read on until I stopped reading after page 187...." Read more

Spy vs Spy
5 out of 5 stars
Spy vs Spy
Friends:* I was a Strategic Planner for US West / Qwest for a while and never was aware what the NSA and CIA were doing....* While studying Cryptography in graduate school I suggested to one of the Professors and the Students in the room that we keep all Information out in the open. People spend a lot of money decrypting stuff so why not just let them read it and listen to it out in the open.* I have been following this " Out In The Open " approach since 1994 and have encouraged the NSA, FBI and CIA to do the same.* MAD Magazine had a regular cartoon called " Spy vs Spy " that made fun of all this......Thinking Allowed.....Arthur Gerard Michael Baron von Boennighausen
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

  • Craig West
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Shadow Factory
    Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2008
    Verified Purchase
    Quite an eye-opener into the "vacuum cleaner" methodology for monitoring the world's communications. Completely engrossing from start to finish. James Bamford provides wonderful insight into the workings of NSA, and the changes in collection techniques necessitated by our constantly evolving technology. Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in the business of intelligence gathering methods, and for understanding the magnitude of the analysis task of the "take."
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • JW Hoadley
    4.0 out of 5 stars Item and package broken/damaged and missing item
    Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    The book and binding are clean and acceptable, but unlike what is shown and described there was no Dust jacket to protect the cover for longevity.
    Helpful
     Report
  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars James Hanford needs to write a sequel to The Shadow Factory
    Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    The author has done a fine job of bringing us up to the end of 2010. But there is so much that has happened since then. We need to know what the effects of the Obama and Trump administrations have been on the NSA.
    My big interest will be how Artificial Intelligence will impact the whole issue facing the NSA.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Conor B. Dugan
    3.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating, Albeit Very Biased Account
    Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    James Bamford has written a fascinating account of the National Security Agency and the technology and techniques employed by the NSA pre- and post-9/11. At times the book reads like a novel and is incredibly engaging. At other points, the book becomes tedious as the reader becomes lost in discussion of terabytes, gigabytes, and all the various bytes. The biggest flaw in Bamford's book though isn't the writing, it is his personal biases that shine through from page 1 through the end. Bamford clearly finds no credibility in the arguments for the Terrorist Surveillance Program -- it seems ultimately even with the version John Ashcroft, Robert Mueller, Jim Comey, and Jack Goldsmith signed off on -- and other NSA programs. Examples of his bias shining through: "Nor did he [Goldsmith] share their fever for turning the presidency into a monarchy" p. 279; and "At a time when the NSA needed a Jim Comey or a Bob Mueller, it had only a three-star sycophant unwilling to protect the agency from the destructive forces of Cheney and Addington" p. 289. Or there is his disingenuous description of officials who had served in the Bush administration challenging its assertions. He talks about Richard Clarke and Rand Beers, the former a very public critic of the Bush administration, and the latter, an advisor to Senator Kerry in 2004 campaign. Then there are times when he contradicts himself talking about how speed was lost by the system while writing this against a backdrop in which he considers much of what the NSA is doing to be lawless.

    None of this should stop you from picking up this fascinating read. But unlike other books in the similar broad genre of foreign policy/national security (I think of Ben Wittes Law and the Long War or Thomas Ricks' Fiasco) be on alert that Bamford lacks the same sort of good objective reporting of such fine writers.
    5 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Liz Viering
    5.0 out of 5 stars criminals in charge
    Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2008
    Verified Purchase
    Bamford's latest book is certainly well researched, and comes to some alarming conclusions: Israel has virtually bugged the entire world, and our government colludes with them in handing over all of our most private information, contrary to all of our laws and safeguards against such things. It is patently illegal, but is done anyway.

    The scope of the illegal activity, and the disregard for our Constitution that permeates these actions induce more terror in me than anything "our enemies" may try to do to us. We are officially in a police state, no matter how they spin it.
    15 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Retired Reader
    4.0 out of 5 stars Looking Under Rocks
    Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2008
    Verified Purchase
    This is the latest book by James Bamford about what is usually called the "super secret" National Security Agency (NSA). Bamford has established himself as the public chronicler of the NSA and has done some impressive reporting on an agency famous for its almost impenetrable secrecy.

    First it should be noted that much of the secrecy that envelopes NSA is absolutely justified. The intelligence cliché' of `protecting sources and methods' has real meaning within the Signals Intelligence Directorate (SID) of the agency. The ability to collect and process electronic signals carrying important information is actually quite fragile and can be easily lost through inadvertent or ill-considered disclosure. Such losses have occurred far too often and do adversely affect U.S. National Security.

    That being said it is also true that the blanket of secrecy can also be used to conceal incompetence, ill-legal activities, and enormous waste. This is why congressional and executive branch oversight are so important in keeping the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) honest. Unfortunately, NSA is a `technical' collection agency which means that the eyes of its nominal monitors tend to glaze over when its programs are discussed in any detail. This situation was exacerbated by NSA's former director General Hayden who was able to walk that thin line between telling congress what it wanted to hear and avoiding any real involvement in NSA operations.

    This is why Bamford's books in general and this latest one in particular are so important. He is not accurate in every thing he reports about NSA nor do his informants understand all of the technical issues. Yet overall this book is a service to the cause of good government and raises a host of red flags that ought to be looked into by congress.

    In this book he discusses three inter-related issues: first, there is the failure of NSA, CIA and the FBI to share vital information prior to 9/11 and their collective failures to effectively analyze available data; second, there is NSA's reluctant but undoubted subversion of Constitutional rights of privacy accorded to all in the U.S. both citizens and visitors; and finally there is the festering problem of the use of contractors for core missions by all of the agencies of the IC and the general haze of corruption hanging over all government contracting processes. NSA appears to have some particularly serious issues in this regard.

    When any government or part of government operates behind a curtain secrecy with ineffective oversight it is an invitation to corruption and abuse of power. Bamford has done his best to shine a light on this aspect of NSA.
    147 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • Jordi Giménez Gámez
    5.0 out of 5 stars Te abre los ojos
    Reviewed in Spain on November 26, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Muchas veces en las noticias oímos cosas sobre espionaje y vigilancia y nos alarmamos, pero al cabo de unos días ya nos hemos olvidado. El libro explica la evolución del espionaje y vigilancia a los propios ciudadanos de EEUU y el porqué de algunas cosas que hemos visto después. Puede parecer un poco conspiranóico, pero casi todo es contrastable con información pública.
    Report
  • James 'error' Campbell
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Study on Our Watchers
    Reviewed in Canada on December 14, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I cannot authoritatively assert what makes this book relevant; except to indicate its substantiation of the agency behind the leaks of Edward Snowden.

    I had already known exactly what was contained inside these pages before reading it, because it is only logical. Our technological society is being monitored whole-cloth by a titan surveillance apparatus with a global scope. Many of those whom I discuss these topics with, insist quite earnestly that 'the Shadow Factory' is not concerned with a democratic, law abiding citizen such as myself. They assemble justification that it is for our protection that the NSA exists and functions in a capacity, in which we may extract safety for ourselves and others: a desirable outcome.

    This aside, we all should know that within the light, there is a strong possibility of emerging darkness. With every sunrise there is a promise of a sunset. Even in the ambiguous account of 'the Bible' -feel as you may about it- we observe Lucifer, an angel, falling from grace to become Satan. I have no doubt at all that this is the potential for our protectorate, the National Security Agency, regardless of its current image or function. James Bamford is in himself a fairly shadowy figure, kept on the periphery of mainstream discussion: I only bought this book because I watch 'Democracy Now' (an online independent news source). It stands to logic that Bamford is not referenced frequently these days, or turned to popular account as an authority, solely because he speaks in the interest of us, the people.

    I did not particularly enjoy the beginning chapters of "The Shadow Factory". The substance of the start of this book, is focused narrowly in its displaying the security failures preventing the attacks on September 11 2001. It turns out, that these attacks were conducted and planned in close proximity to the NSA facilities and even literally under the observance of various law enforcement authorities (who detected the activities, but conveniently dropped the ball). It should be old news by now the literal impotency in stopping the largest single act of terror in the history of modern society.

    I now have questions. What is to become of our advanced industrial society, we the participants of the 'free world'? I figure if you are reading this, you should know a portion of reality, in its bearing in actual fact. Surely we are in grave danger, though I have conducted many thought experiments as to why and literally, it is not because of terrorism. In my opinion we need to engage ourselves in formulating societal structures into function of just and fair law; international or otherwise, socialized profit, a direct reflection of the needs of the whole. I say this for no other intent than practical measurement to ensure species survival, which is, at this point, certainly not guaranteed.

    If the NSA gains the wrong direction, which it may have already, then nothing will allow its correction and we will no longer be able to survive as ourselves in freedom, alive or not.
    Report
  • Richard Hilton
    5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a brilliant insight into aspects of our worldwide intelligence networks
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 20, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This book is a brilliant insight into aspects of our worldwide intelligence networks. NSA by its very nature must remain as secret as we can make it, especially in the modern world. Despite the constant bickering about how much we pay for this facility in the USA, I personally feel every penny spent was worthwhile. A good read and a must for the intelligence orientated readers amongst us. Highly recommended.
    Report
  • KRISHANU CHATTERJEE
    5.0 out of 5 stars Too good to be conjured up..
    Reviewed in India on August 19, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Extremely well researched. Gives credence to the 'Big Brother' tag the States & the UK have been labelled with. Bamford's mastery as a narrator also comes handy. If you like this very niche segment of non-fiction literature, do read this.

    Thank you for reading this review!
    Report
  • Michael Szczuka
    4.0 out of 5 stars Detailreich und aktuell
    Reviewed in Germany on May 27, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    James Bamford bleibt seinem Genre treu. Er erzählt dabei sehr detailreich, spannend und interessant über die nachrichtendienstlichen Hintergründe von 9/11 sowie von den folgenden (Fehl-?)Entwicklungen (das Hochfahren der "warrant less eavesdroppings", die Überwachung des Internetverkehrs von amerikanischer Seite aus sowie die geschäftlichen Verwicklungen von diversen Anbietern von Überwachungssoftware). Persönlich gefielen mir vor allem der erste Teil, in dem Bamford einige Hintergründe von 9/11 und die nicht beachteten Nachrichtendaten beschreibt, sowie die Entwicklungen beim Überwachen des Internets durch Firmen wie Narus und Verint. Dies war vor allem für mich interessant, da ich beruflich u.a. auch mit Netzwerksicherheitsthemen zu tun habe.
    Einige Kapitel und Abschnitte sind vielleicht etwas trocken, aber das ist wohl der Tatsache zuzuschreiben, dass Bamford seine Aussagen unterlegt - wenn auch oft mit anonymen Quellen.
    Für Leute, die sich für die Thematik interessieren, ein durchaus lesenswertes Buch.
    Report