The Puzzle Palace: Inside America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization, James Bamford

The dis-oriented author graduated from college with a degree in mathematics and computer science. I also had significant coursework in Electronics and five different foreign languages. At the time I considered whether I should apply to work at the National Security Agency. While I was not recruited by the agency, my background probably made me a decent candidate.

James Bamford's The Puzzle Palace describes the history of the NSA from its founding until 1982 during the height of the cold war.

Any student of American history should read this book.

Bamford's book is a detailed history of the NSA. The book covers the agency, warts and all. I found the book's format difficult to read. Each of Bamford's chapters covers a topic chronologically. The trouble is that while one chapter may cover satellite listening posts starting in the sixties, the next talks about relations with Congress starting in the 40s. I found it hard to keep track of the timeline.

Bamford paints a picture of a nearly all-powerful agency. For a long time even their existence was secret. The NSA has always operated on the edges of or just outside of the law. Conspiracy theorists will love this book.

This book gives readers a glimpse into a clandestine world that is rarely seen.

The Puzzle Palace gets 3 of 5 dis-oriented smileys

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