Secrecy: The American Experience

Abstract

Senator Daniel Patrick here presents a fascinating account of the development of secrecy as a mode of regulation in American government since World War I-how it was born, how world events shaped it, how it has adversely affected momentous political decisions and events, and how it has eluded efforts to curtail or end it. Selected as a 1998 Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times Book Review Selected as one of the Best Nonfiction Books of 1998 by the Los Angeles Times Book Review A withering account of the Government's bottomless appetite for 'intelligence'-that is, for collecting, concealing, suppressing, and manipulating it. It is a dismaying tale, though has told it with uncommon liveliness and a mordant wit.-Sam Tanenhaus, New York Times Book Review Moynihan has provided us with an interesting history of secrecy in the United States, and a provocative meditation on the patterns and implications of secrecy in the government.-Claire Berlinski, National Review Moynihan astutely describes how our bureaucracies quickly learned that having information that others want is a source of power. The senator enlivens his book with fascinating historical examples of how the thirst for secrecy is seemingly insatiable.-Stansfield Turner, Christian Science Monitor