by Jane Mayer
First published 2017
On December 9, 2014, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence published findings that condemned the CIA's secret torture program during George W. Bush's presidency. The committee investigated how the agency brutally treated prisoners captured during the war on terror. Their research documented the program's complete failure to produce useful intelligence while revealing the extraordinary measures the CIA took to hide these activities from oversight. Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón transform this controversial government report into graphic novel format. Their visual storytelling makes the Senate's damning conclusions accessible to American readers. The book strips away the bureaucratic language to show exactly what the CIA did to detainees and how officials covered up these operations. Jane Mayer argues that public awareness serves as the strongest protection against future torture programs. The graphic adaptation allows citizens to understand the full scope of crimes their government committed in their name.
Genres: history, political-science, politics, non-fiction, biography-memoir, activism, graphic-novels-comics, american-history
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: government-corruption, investigative-journalism
Setting: United States
Period: 21st-century
144 pages · Kindle Edition · Bold Type Books
Content warnings: torture, violence