Rating: 
Summary: body of secrets
Review: Some pundits have trashed it but for the reader who does not understand how some of the fringe organizations of our government works this is an excellent read. It is well written and the sources seem credible. Once read, you will be pleased how your tax dollars are spent. You will have some great tales for your next cocktail party.
Rating: 
Summary: Personal views get in the way of otherwise excellent coverag
Review: Bamford does a really good job of telling the story of the history of the NSA. The book takes over to a large degree where his 'The Puzzle Palace' left off. The book details many of the inner workings of the NSA, but unfortunately, even after over 600 pages, the reader does not come away with a real understanding of what makes the NSA tick. It would have been interesting if Bamford could have spent more time discussing the psychological makeup of what type of employee the NSA attracts. Bamford does a really good job of discussing the workings of the SIGINT groups and how they are crucial to many intelligence operations. The involvement of the NSA within corporate espionage (and how they protect US interests) has often been conjectured. There are stories of the NSA calling IBM and telling them which IBM foreign offices are being bugged. Bamford does not expand on those rumors. Occasionally, Bamford comes across as someone with an axe to grind. This is most apparent when he writes about the incident with the USS Liberty and the lifestyle issues of Bobby Ray Inman. The style he uses in those chapters is histrionic, when compared to similar incidents in the book. Bamford has a tirade about the attack on the Liberty, but glances over the fact that the Allies discovered evidence of Hitler's atrocities much earlier in WWII than the world was previously led to believe. In short, 'Body of Secrets' is the only book to date that has given outsiders a good inside look at the inner workings at Ft. Meade. If you are able to separate his reporting from his occasional editorials, the book makes for a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to par with The Puzzle Palace
Review: This book just didn't live up to my expectations. Outside of the in-depth material on the USS Liberty, and some interesting discussion about NSA activities in Southeast Asia, there really isn't much energy in this book. To me, the best material here really is in the last few chapters; chapters I fear that many folks won't even get to if they focus their energies reading the "revelations" about the USS Liberty. The chapter on "Crypto City" is quite interesting, as was the last chapter about NSA and development of new electronic and computer technology. I guess that I was really looking for a history of NSA activities in those two areas, building on the strengths of Bamford's earlier book, The Puzzle Palace. To find the discussion of the NSA's real physical anatomy, and their important role in the development of new technologies, relegated to the concluding chapters of this book was a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: US history based on intercepted communications is different
Review: Body of Secrets is the very best book about the impact of cryptology on United States History. There are not enough stars to rate this book as high as it deserves. But, be warned, American readers will be outraged when they finish this book. This book is ripe for members of Congress, college professors and high school teachers, their students, members of the armed forces, all veterans, government employees, and Israelis and supporters of Israel in particular. The book is an explanation based on intercepted communications and other electronic signals from about 1960 to 1980. It is a body of evidence, truth, and fact, not speculation or revision. Fortunately a lot of undeserved "sterling" reputations of the powerful are damaged, a lot of other historians proven wrong, careless, or manipulative, presidents are proven incompetent or worse, and every fact and assertion is meticulously documented. It is obvious that many in government service, outraged by deceit and fabrication, helped direct the author to salient material only recently declassified in accordance with our secrecy laws . Readers will find a similarity in the character defects of Presidents Eisenhower and Clinton disturbing, President Johnson appears a manipulative coward, and rank incompetence at the highest levels of the NSA, CIA, the executive branch, and JCS is disturbing. But American readers will be most outraged at the revelation that "our ally" Israel deliberately tried to sink and kill all aboard the unarmed, clearly identified US Navy signals intercept ship (455 feet) , USS Liberty, in 1967, while sailing in international waters. The truth has prevailed. Author Bamford provides the first indisputable evidence that Israel deliberately attacked the USS Liberty after the Israel Army was caught cold by signals intercept in the act of directing the slaughter of thousands of unarmed, already captured, Egyptian POW, civilians, and UN troops. All this after lying to the US Government about the provocation for the 1967 Mid East War. In an attempt to destroy the evidence, Israeli military headquarters directed aircraft and PT boats to clear the Liberty's decks with cannon fire killing many US sailors, to then bomb the ship, then napalm it, and finally to fire torpedoes into it. The Israeli military headquarters directed shooting survivors, the destruction of life rafts, and then had the audacity to ask if the crew needed assistance. Two thirds of the crew were seriously wounded, 34 killed, the ship had over 800 shell holes and a 40 foot torpedo hole. Fighter aircraft sent by the US Navy to stop the attack were turned back on personal order of President Johnson. By a miracle of leadership and seamanship the Liberty limped back to the protection of its fleet several hundred miles away. Knowing all this, two years later the Israeli government, conceding fault but not intent, haggled over paltry redemption payments to crew and government like fishwives in a bazaar. Bamford pulls no punches in this book about the USS Liberty or many other incidents. The fault in this book lies in Bamford too often serving as an apologist for the National Security Agency (NSA) and failing to better explain the conflict involving operational control of signals intelligence assets and equipment that is too frequently jerked around by incompetent military and NSA leadership (though he does a better job than others). Missing is a comparable explanation of ground force and special operations signals intelligence during this period. James Bamford has a long time, well earned, outstanding reputation as an historian, and in particular as an historian of intelligence subjects. His reputation for accuracy, detailed research, and obtaining access to solid information is without parallel. He is trusted by those in the intelligence community to be right and fair. He is not a revisionist or sensationalist and certainly not anti-Semitic. But don't be surprised, reader, if you leave this book with an anti-Israeli government bias, never to trust the government of Israel again, and a lot less trusting of Washington and the nitwits that too often control it.
Rating:
Summary: Body Of Secrets
Review: The strength of this book lies in the history of the NSA. Specifically the book in the early chapters, goes into the history of intellengence gathering in the US. (eventually resulting in the formation of the NSA) The stories told regarding the early years (the 50's througth the 60's) are facsinating, so much so the you can forgive the editorializing by the author. However, the book refuses to end, and the second half is given to the mundane details and the political life of the NSA. (Do we really care about the different types of employee parties given throughout the year?) It seems to take away the mystique of the agency, to the extent of making it seem that the NSA is just another govenment department. (think of the a driver's license facility with good math skills) Maybe that's the point. Finally, as you read this, you can't help but to think about the stories that could not be told in this book. In the historical part, the actual details are vague (for obvious reasons), but you ask yourself, that if the NSA is willing to impart this juicy information now, what do we have to look forward to being declassified in 2020? It certainly gives you something to think about as you shut off the nightlight and drift off to sleep. That alone is worth the price of this book.
Rating:
Summary: A bird's eye view of the National Security Agency
Review: James Bamford has done a beautifully rendered work of the entire body and structure of the National Security Agency. I don't believe that he has left any stone unturned in this work. He will enthrall you with everything from the departments in the NSA, how they conduct themselves, how they hire new employees, incidents they have been involved in, and more. This book is actually a continuation on the NSA from his earlier work. His first book, The Puzzle Palace, told of how the NSA came into being and researches some questionable happenings involving the NSA and how they evolved from the early 1950's to the 1980's. Body of Secrets takes over from there. If you are interested in government intelligence, spies, intrigue and mystery, and our covert hierarchy, this is a very well detailed and informative book. Down to earth, easy to read and very enjoyable in all aspects. Highly recommended along with The Puzzle Palace.
Rating:
Summary: Thorough, Detailed Examination of the NSA
Review: While generally maintaining a dry almost textbook tone, the author presents the very well documented facts of 'behind the scenes' information from the early days right up through the end of the Clinton administration. What I found most interesting was later in the book, the review of the agency as it transformed from "No Such Agency" to the NSA of today -- one which definitely has Congress (as well as America's) attention. Their newfound visibility seems to have been a struggle, and it paints a very human picture of what typically is seen as a monolithic leviathan. A great book provided you are truly detail oriented, or have a nearly bottomless thirst for information on the NSA. I enjoyed it immensely.
Rating:
Summary: An Engrossing Read, but...
Review: There are few books that I devote a full day to, but this was one. Among the other things that have been mentioned, _Body Of Secrets_ provides a great historical perspective on the last few decades. I may be totally off base, but as I read the detail related to offices, etc. within the today's NSA, I found myself wondering if Bamford wasn't given a bit of a tour by some NSA PR types after his last book. Given what I've read in other places, it didn't seem as if he wanted to make too many waves. Having said that, I would still highly recommend the book from a number of different standpoints (most of which have been covered in other reviews).
Rating:
Summary: Reads Like a Thriller
Review: I was very surprised by Mr. Bamford's new book. The book was suggested to me by a friend who had enjoyed his last book, The Puzzle Palace. At first I did not think I would like it because I felt that it would be too technical. But I was wrong. Rather than being a dry history filled with technical data, it reads like a thriller. He does this by focusing not on the spy machines but the people behind them. I am very surprised that he was able to get so many former NSA officials to cooperate with him. I recommend this book highly -- it is both very readable and very authorative.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book Ever on Intelligence
Review: I have been a fan of James Bamford ever since reading The Puzzle Palace about eight years ago. While most people still believe that the CIA sits at the center of the espionage universe, as Bamford point out, the NSA is the largest and most prolific spy agency in the world today. Bamford seems to have an uncanny knack of digging out the most hidden facts about the agency. He also shows no fear of the the government, in writing on such topics as the attempt by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to launch a war of terrorism against their own country. Nor does he worry about special interest groups, as exemplified by his detailed examination of the attack by Israel on the USS Liberty. At last these facts are being told.
| 
