[1] It was first published on May 13, 2014 through Metropolitan Books and details Greenwald's role in the global surveillance disclosures as revealed by the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden.

He began by traveling to Hong Kong to meet Edward Snowden, who had contacted Greenwald as an anonymous source purporting to have evidence of government surveillance.

In the book Greenwald also discusses establishment media, which he states will traditionally avoid publishing anything that would put them at odds with the government and as such, are less helpful when it comes to the interests of the general public.

"[3] Slate gave a mostly positive review, stating that while the book "doesn’t offer an in-depth portrait of the leaker" it does serve as a good "primer" on "what was at stake when he downloaded the government’s most precious secrets onto a thumb drive".

"[5] Porter reserved criticism for what he felt was a lack of appreciation by Greenwald of the importance of the efforts of Ewen MacAskill and his fellow Guardian writers in bringing the disclosures to publication.