Book Review: "Playing To the Edge"
"Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror" By Michael V. Hayden is an epic book from the one of the nations greatest spy masters. Playing To The Edge is Hayden's memoirs about the time he served in various intelligence related positions for the United States Government (USG). It focuses heavily on counter terrorism surveillance and techniques used throughout the 21st century, during his time as directory of the CIA and NSA in a post 9/11 America. Interestingly, Hayden is the only person to ever serve as both the director of the NSA and the CIA, albiet at different times. It goes into great depth on the various signal intelligence programs the USG had to intercept the communications of suspected foreign and domestic terrorists. The book almost seems prompted by the Snowden documents, which Hayden discuses at great length in the later chapters. It's as if the spy chief wanted to get his side of the story out and much of the book comes off as rationalization of the choices made throughout that decade. Overall, I give the book 8/10 stars for being an epic insider account of US intelligence programs in the last decade, however the book seems extremely biased towards it's own perspective, self serving, and self justifying. I'de recommend this book to intelligence analysts, privacy advocates, and anyone who has been following the Snowden documents. I listened to the book on Audible at ~$30 for roughly 17 hrs of audio, and I especially liked that Hayden read his own writings, this gave the text a very genuine feel, and you can tell they are his own words. I found the memoirs to be fascinating, nuanced, and highly revealing. As with many of my reviews, the following are the chapters of the book:
Forward: Why This Book?
Chapter 1: The System is Down (Fort Meed Maryland, 1999-2000)
Chapter 2: A National Treasure, for How Much Longer? (Fort Meade Maryland, 2001-2005)
Chapter 3: Going To War, with Some Help From Our Friends (Fort Meade Maryland, 2001-2003)
Chapter 4: Going To War, Again and Again (Fort Meade Maryland, 2002-2005)
Chapter 5: Stellar Wind (Fort Meade Maryland, 2001-2003)
Chapter 6: Going Public, Willing and Otherwise (Fort Meade Maryland and Washington DC, 2004-2008)
Chapter 7: The Public's Right to Know and Be Safe (Fort Meade Maryland and Langley Virginia, 1999-2009)
Chapter 8: Life in The cyber Domain (San Antonio Texas, Fort Meade Maryland, and Langley Virginia, 1996-2010)
Chapter 9: Is This Really Necessary? (The ODNI 2005-2006 and beyond)
Chapter 10: I Want You to Take Over The CIA (Washington DC, May-December 2006)
Chapter 11: Three Easy Pieces (Baghdad, Islamabad, and Cabo, 2006)
Chapter 12: A Unique View (Langley Virginia, 2007-2008)
Chapter 13: Going Home (Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, 1945-2014)
Chapter 14: No Core, No War (Al Khabar Syria, 2007-2008)
Chapter 15: Espionage, Bureaucracy, and Family Life (Langley Virginia, 2006-2009)
Chapter 16: Iran, Bombing or The Bomb? (Langley Virginia, 2007-2009)
Chapter 17: A Global Enterprise (Langley Virginia, 2007-2009)
Chapter 18: There Will Be No Explaining Our Inaction (Washington DC, 2002-2009 and beyond)
Chapter 19: Transition (CIA, November 2008 - February 2009)
Chapter 20: General, They're Going To Release The Memos (McClain Virginia, 2009-2014)
Chapter 21: The Private Sector (Washington DC, 2009-2014)
Epilogue
The book is a fascinating read, discussing a vast selection of locations, domains and issues. One of my main criticisms of the book is that it jumps around a lot in both time and location. This non-linear story telling may through some readers off, but it's better to think of it as addressing specific Intel topics, rather than being a linear story. The book is an eye opening inside look at the operations of the USG, which is refreshing and honest. I really like how the book talks about programs such as Stellar Wind, Trail Blazer, Thin Thread, and PRISM. I honestly think it's a brilliant move to come clean with many of the actions and be open now. I also understand many of General Hayden's concerns, so I find the book especially interesting when considering the balances of privacy and information security. Again, I can't recommend the book enough, especially to take a well rounded perspective in the post Snowden leak era. The following is General Hayden speaking on many of the same concepts as in his book and audio recording:
