Synopses & Reviews
If the charges against him are true, Bradley Manning perpetrated the biggest breach of military security in American history. Beginning in early 2010, Manning, an intelligence analyst, allegedly leaked an astounding amount of classified information to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks: classified combat videos, tens of thousands of documents from the war in Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands from Iraq, and hundreds of thousands more from embassies around the globe. Almost all of WikiLeaks's headline-making releases of information have come from one source, and one source only: Bradley Manning.
The leaks affected governments the world over--the Arab uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt were spurred, in part, by Manning's revelations. They propelled WikiLeaks to a level of international prominence it never had before, putting the group at once on more solid financial footing and squarely in the crosshairs of the American national security establishment. WikiLeaks copycats emerged across the planet. The world would never be the same.
In late 2011, Bradley Manning will likely be court martialled for his security breach. His story is one of global significance, and yet he remains an enigma. Now, for the first time, the full truth will be told about a man who, at the age of only twenty-two, changed the world. Julian Assange was only the conduit. The real agent of change was Manning.
The mainstream media has inaccurately described Manning as a combative outcast, a bullied, embittered homosexual, and a loser grasping for notoriety. This book will set the record straight. Growing up in small-town Crescent, Oklahoma, Manning was never in the popular crowd, but he had friends. He has been portrayed as an irritable rabble-rouser who was disruptive in class, but the Manning this book uncovers was a rule follower who hated getting into trouble, with no disciplinary record from his school years in Oklahoma. It profiles a young man who was, like many in their twenties, impulsive, but who worked hard and took risks to improve his life after his family had fallen apart and he was thrust into the world to fend for himself. The overarching narrative in media reports on Manning explain his leaks as motivated by the basest, most self-serving intentions.
Nicks's book on Manning paints a far more nuanced, textured portrait of a man haunted by demons and driven by hope, forced into an ethically fraught situation by a dysfunctional military bureaucracy. The Manning this book describes is impulsive and cocky, yet idealistic enough to follow his conscience. In leaking a vast collection of American secrets, he thought he was doing the right thing.
A lack of opportunity inspired Manning to join the Army in order to go to college. A military diminished by the strain of two failing wars deployed him to a job for which he was unsuited. And a metastasizing industrial complex in the United States built a reservoir of secrets destined one day to burst. In the final calculus, Bradley Manning is a creature of his time, and as American as apple pie. If, through the security breach that provided its biggest-ever scoops, Bradley Manning made WikiLeaks, then the United States made Bradley Manning.
The profiles Denver Nicks wrote of Bradley Manning in the fall of 2010 for This Land differed both in scope and in substance from what had previously been reported about him. The world noticed. His first piece was picked up and cited by Harpers, Al Jazeera, The Daily Beast, and others. WikiLeaks tweeted it to its more than half a million Twitter followers. Mark Thompson of TIME magazine called it “The best answer to date” to the question: Who is Bradley Manning?
In this book, relying on numerous conversations with those who know Manning best, Nicks gives the full story of Manning's past and future--how his precocious intellect in a small town provided fertile ground for his sense of his own intellectual and moral superiority. It's the story of a bright kid from middle America struggling to make it in the world, who signs on to serve his country and finds himself serving a cause he finds to be far more sinister. It's about what it takes for a person to betray his oath and fellow troops--and his own future--in order to fulfill what he sees as a higher purpose. And it's about how the government reacts to such a person--keeping him in solitary confinement and subjecting him to cruel and unusual security measures.
Manning's trial promises to be the military trial of the decade, if not the century. This book will be a must-have for anyone who wants to understand the man behind it all.
Review
“In telling the story of how the intelligence analyst Bradley Manning came into contact with the self-promoting anti-secrecy radical Julian Assange under the pressure cooker of the Iraq war, Denver Nicks has written a page-turner that reads like a cyberthriller. Its simultaneously a coming-of-age story, a coming-out story, an X-ray of American culture in the Homeland Security era, a well-researched history of espionage, an exposé of the routinized cruelties of the 21st-century US military, and a meditation on the human costs of the cult of secrecy.” —Ned Sublette, author of The World that Made New Orleans
Review
“WikiLeaks accomplice Brad Manning was a gay geek in the military at a time when ‘Dont Ask, Dont Tell defined the war on all kinds of freedoms, not just sexual ones. Denver Nicks has given us a suspenseful, sensitively drawn account of righteous rage, vigilante justice, and the young man who risked his future to make the truth known.” —James Gavin, author of Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker
Review
“Brad Mannings ordinary existence becomes extraordinary through the fine writing of Nicks. The conversations between Manning, his confidants, and others are expertly woven together in a way that propels this story along like a thrilling, suspense-filled novel.” —Randy L. Schmidt, author of Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter
Synopsis
Providing insight into Bradley Mannings background, this biography paints a nuanced portrait that disputes his depiction in the mainstream media. As the alleged source to WikiLeaks for the biggest breach of military security in American history, Bradley Manning has been inaccurately described as a combative outcast, a bullied and embittered homosexual, and a loser grasping for notoriety; however, this exploration into his past depicts a young man haunted by demons and driven by hope, forced into an ethically fraught situation by a dysfunctional military bureaucracy. The Manning this book uncovers is impulsive and cocky, yet idealistic enough to follow his conscience. In leaking a vast collection of American secrets, he thought he was doing the right thing. His story is one of global significance, and yet he remains an enigma. Now, for the first time, the full truth will be told about a man who, at the age of only 22, changed the world.
Synopsis
Please note: this book was written and published prior to Manning's identification as Chelsea. Beginning in early 2010, Chelsea Manning leaked an astounding amount of classified information to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks: classified combat videos as well as tens of thousands of documents from the war in Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands from Iraq, and hundreds of thousands more from embassies around the globe. Almost all of WikiLeaks's headline-making releases of information have come from one source, and one source only: Chelsea Manning.
Manning's story is one of global significance, yet she remains an enigma. Now, for the first time, the full truth is told about a woman who, at the age of only twenty-two, changed the world.
Though the overarching narrative in media reports on Manning explain her leaks as motivated by the basest, most self-serving intentions, Private paints a far more nuanced, textured portrait of a woman haunted by demons and driven by hope, forced into an ethically fraught situation by a dysfunctional military bureaucracy. Relying on numerous conversations with those who know Manning best, this book displays how Manning's precocious intellect provided fertile ground for her sense of her own intellectual and moral superiority. It relates how a bright kid from middle America signed on to serve her country and found herself serving a cause far more sinister. And it explains what it takes for a person to betray her orders and fellow troops--and her own future--in order to fulfill what she sees as a higher purpose.
Manning's court-martial may be the military trial of the decade, if not the century. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the woman behind it all.
Synopsis
Beginning in early 2010, Bradley Manning leaked an astounding amount of classified information to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks: classified combat videos as well as tens of thousands of documents from the war in Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands from Iraq, and hundreds of thousands more from embassies around the globe. Almost all of WikiLeakss headline-making releases of information have come from one source, and one source only: Bradley Manning.
Mannings story is one of global significance, yet he remains an enigma. Now, for the first time, the full truth is told about a man who, at the age of only twenty-two, changed the world.
Though the overarching narrative in media reports on Manning explain his leaks as motivated by the basest, most self-serving intentions, Private paints a far more nuanced, textured portrait of a man haunted by demons and driven by hope, forced into an ethically fraught situation by a dysfunctional military bureaucracy. Relying on numerous conversations with those who know Manning best, this book displays how Mannings precocious intellect provided fertile ground for his sense of his own intellectual and moral superiority. It relates how a bright kid from middle America signed on to serve his country and found himself serving a cause far more sinister. And it explains what it takes for a person to betray his orders and fellow troops—and his own future—in order to fulfill what he sees as a higher purpose. Mannings court-martial may be the military trial of the decade, if not the century. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the man behind it all.
About the Author
Denver Nicks is a writer based in New York City. Originally from Oklahoma, he has developed a reputation for intrepid reporting in challenging contexts. Nicks has written about street art in Poland, a failed coup in the Philippines, post-coup Honduras, and the hidden working-class underbelly of Wall Street in the midst of the financial meltdown. A Fulbright Scholar, he holds a Master of Science from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. His work has appeared in The Daily Beast, AlterNet, The Nation, and other publications.