It all began with an email: "I am a high-ranking intelligence officer..." What followed was the most spectacular revelation of state secrets in history. Edward Snowden, a young computer genius working for the American National Security Agency (NSA), alerted the world that the powerful intelligence agency was using new technologies to monitor practically the entire planet and destroy the privacy of everyone. Edward Snowden is the first comprehensive account of Snowden's actions and the work of the journalists who resisted the pressure from the American and British governments and exposed the megalomaniacal surveillance activities of the NSA and its British counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Snowden made history. His escape took him from Hawaii to Hong Kong.