by James Risen
First published 2006
James Risen exposes the hidden operations that the Bush administration desperately wanted to keep secret. When Bush himself contacted the New York Times to block publication, and the Justice Department launched an investigation to force Risen to reveal his intelligence sources, the stakes became clear. This forbidden document reveals systematic abuses of power and scandalous CIA operations that shatter assumptions about American intelligence work. Risen uncovers how the United States actually provided atomic bomb blueprints to Iran, among other shocking revelations. The book catalogs violated rules, planned assassinations, confirmed torture, and contemplated war crimes. It dissects the troubling blindness within Bush's black and white worldview, where nothing functions as intended in his administration's secret war.
Genres: abuse, political-science, 21st-century, political-thriller, american-history
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: cover-up, whistleblower
Setting: United States, Iran
Period: 2000s
Paperback · ALBIN MICHEL
Content warnings: abuse, torture, war