Listen free for 30 days

  • Permanent Record

  • Written by: Edward Snowden
  • Narrated by: Holter Graham
  • Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (989 ratings)

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Permanent Record cover art

Permanent Record

Written by: Edward Snowden
Narrated by: Holter Graham
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $35.08

Buy Now for $35.08

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

An NPR Best Book of the Year - 2019

Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.

In 2013, 29-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth. Six years later, Snowden reveals for the very first time how he helped to build this system and why he was moved to expose it. 

Spanning the bucolic Beltway suburbs of his childhood and the clandestine CIA and NSA postings of his adulthood, Permanent Record is the extraordinary account of a bright young man who grew up online - a man who became a spy, a whistleblower, and, in exile, the internet’s conscience. Written with wit, grace, passion, and an unflinching candor, Permanent Record is a crucial memoir of our digital age and destined to be a classic.

©2019 Edward Snowden (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about Permanent Record

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    838
  • 4 Stars
    126
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    709
  • 4 Stars
    118
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    735
  • 4 Stars
    87
  • 3 Stars
    25
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just Magnificent

I picked up this book with a vague idea of Edward Snowden as a significant figure in the battle to preserve humanities right to privacy in our everyday lives. Upon its completion, I understand how much of an understatement that is. If anyone interested in learning about the relationship between individuals and the state is reading this and having second thoughts about buying this book, think a third time and take the plunge. Permanent Record is not only highly enjoyable, but highly informative and enlightening in a variety if fields.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting yet somewhat anecdotal

I bought the book because even if I had read some of the press coverage when the story broke out, I wanted to have a deeper understanding of the revelations he had made. In that regard, the book fulfilled its purpose. Also, it is undeniably interesting to get his story first hand and to have access to his state of mind and rationale at the time of the events. Along the way, he takes the time to explain the more technologic aspects with perfect clarity. He is a very skilled vulgarizer. and his approach didactic yet colorful makes his recollections even more compelling.

However, I have to admit that the book wasn't entirely what I had hoped for. I thought it would be more insightful and that he would be offering some sort of critique since the political and social issues in play interest me a lot more than details of his personal life. I knew these were his memoir yet I did not expect his biography per se, going back to his childhood. But in the end, I didn't mind it since my curiosity was piqued even if some parts of it veered towards the anecdotal,

Performance-wise, I only have praise for the narrator. Of course, if Snowden had read it, the story would only have been even more engaging. Nevertheless, in all truth, the actor gives a very convincing performance. Throughout the book, I kept forgetting that the voice I heard wasn't Snowden's. Nicely done.

If you wish to widen your scope and observe more closely some of the issues brought to light by Snowden's memoir, you should read "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power" by Shoshana Zuboff. In her study, Zuboff details the challenges we face posed by the digital future, the quest by the corporations to predict and control our behavior and the emergence in the twenty-first century of a new form of power she calls "surveillance capitalism."

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible

EVERYONE should get this book.?ESPECIALLY if you tend to think people question a governments motives too much. For any reason however mundane.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

You'll finish the book as a better informed user

I finished it in about a week. Like many others I had seen the movie but I wanted to get in more details about this whole story. In the midst of listening to the book I purchased an internet security course online and I updated my antivirus 😅

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Could not finish it

I can't pin it down to what didn't work for me in this book. The narration was engaging enough, and the book had some interesting stories, but not interesting enough to make me want to finish it.
I was expecting to trade my time and attention for an insight and information. However, the insight and information about the system (what I was looking for) was sparse and mostly the book dealt with justifications and reasons for the author's actions. I didn't feel that the little interesting bits I was getting were worth my attention.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator is perfect and story is more interesting than you’d think

The narrator chosen was perfect. One of the best I’ve listened to. I really enjoyed the story telling and felt I understand Edward quite well by the end of it. He certainly endured a lot for his principles and I think we’re all a little better off for it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

And now I know the rest of the story

By the end I believed it was Edward speaking - good narration. Interesting to hear his side of a well published story. Also I got more paranoid by the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Edward Snowden is a hero

Edward Snowden is a hero. Sacrificing a normal life for the good of everyone. Thank you

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Phenomenal story

I couldn’t stop listening Edward Snowden is a true hero for his sacrifice it’s great to hear the story of the side

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely Amazing!

A book everyone needs to read. i just couldn't stop listening to it. Absolutely amazing!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!