Secrets
by Daniel Ellsberg · first published 2002
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Personal memoir of Daniel Ellsberg's path from military and defense analyst to leaking the Pentagon Papers, with insight into Vietnam-era decision making; suits readers interested in government secrecy and history.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In 1971 former Cold War hard-liner Daniel Ellsberg made history by releasing the Pentagon Papers-a 7,000-page top-secret study of U.S. decision-making in Vietnam-to the New York Times and Washington Post. The document set in motion a chain of events that ended not only the Nixon presidency but the Vietnam War. In this remarkable memoir, Ellsberg describes in dramatic detail the two years he spent in Vietnam as a U.S. State Department observer, and how he came to risk his career and freedom to expose the deceptions and delusions that shaped three decades of American foreign policy. The story of
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For a great book on the military decision making at the time, I’d recommend Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg
on “The Truth About Tonkin (2008)” ↗Which Ellsberg book(s) have you read? I read his memoir Secrets a while back and enjoyed it; I've been meaning to read his book on nuclear war planning, The Doomsday Machine.
on “Ask HN: Have you stopped reading books?” ↗Ellsberg's book "Secrets" is a great read, describing his evolution and eventual decision to smuggle out the Xerox copies of the Pentagon Papers. In 2008 when I was helping organize the Get FISA Right protests on my.barackobama.com,…
This is a relevant and interesting read from Ellsberg's book Secrets: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/02/daniel-ellsber...
on “HOPE X Streaming Live” ↗From Ellsberg's Secrets, describing giving advice to Henry Kissinger on Vietnam in 1968. Good book. Interesting life. Marine Officer, nuclear weapons analyst, drove around Vietnam evaluating pacification, ..
on “Daniel Ellsberg on the Limits of Knowledge (2010)” ↗I need to watch that again - saw it years ago when it first came out. I'm currently reading Ellsberg's Secrets A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers - which is pretty shocking - they knew all along they could never win in Vietnam but continued for "reasons".
on “If you want peace, study war” ↗Daniel Ellsberg giving advice to Henry Kissinger about security clearances, in 1968, from his book "Secrets", https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/02/daniel-ellsbe... > You will deal with a person who doesn’t have those clearances only from the point of view of what you want him to believe and what…
on “Daniel Ellsberg, Who Leaked The Pentagon Papers, Is Dead at 92” ↗Daniel Ellsberg giving advice to Henry Kissinger about security clearances, in 1968, from his book "Secrets", https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/02/daniel-ellsbe... > You will deal with a person who doesn’t have those clearances only from the point of view of what you want him to believe and what…
on “Palantir’s accelerated security clearance plan for students” ↗