Interesting. The overriding message is: there is too much secrecy in our government. ( )

I have to admit that I don't know much about Chelsea Manning. I mean, I know some of the basics - she leaked a shit ton of information to WikiLeaks and was prosecuted once found out - but I don't know hardly anything about Chelsea as a person or what motivated her to become a whistleblower. That's the reason I chose to read this book, but I have to say - I honestly didn't learn as much as I thought I would.

The book comes across as fairly dated, even though it was only published about four years ago. The author continually refers to Chelsea as "Brad," which is expected since this was before Chelsea revealed publicly that she was trans. (There are some mentions of Chelsea's gender identity struggles, however.) The book also went to print before Chelsea plead guilty to some of the charges she was facing and sentenced to 35 years in prison (I am crossing all fingers and toes that Obama will pardon her before leaving office this month). And, of course, Edward Snowden and his whistleblowing had not yet entered stage right just yet (which makes Nicks' extremely limited evaluation of Manning's leaks seem even less substantial, in retrospect).

There is a bit about Manning's childhood, which appears to have been difficult at best. There is also some information about Manning's struggles as a trans woman (although, throughout the book, referred to as a gay man - as previously mentioned above, this book was put to print before Chelsea fully came out about her gender identity) in a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Army (which is seriously one of the most stupid policies ever to exist in the military, in my humble opinion). There's a lot of focus on Chelsea's "problems" - she was prone to emotional outbursts, which Nicks details in multiple different chapters, but there's virtually no attempt to investigate WHY.

And that's my main problem with this book - there's very, very little about Chelsea here. It's obvious that the author has been in touch with Chelsea's family members and friends. It's also obvious that Chelsea has, by choice or by circumstances, become quite secluded while waiting for her trial. But she is what is missing in this book. Her friends and family can only speculate, but considering how she told few what she was doing, much less her motivations behind those actions, there's just some mild speculation. The only insights we got into Chelsea at all came from chat logs and emails that, I am sure, she did not expect to come to light. And that makes the narrative feel quite thin in spots. There is only so much information that friends and family can provide about a person - biographical details, perhaps, but who truly knows someone 100%? And it was quite clear, at least, that Chelsea attempted to keep her multiple layers separate and quiet.

The book is only about two hundred and fifty pages, and a good portion of that is not devoted to Chelsea at all, but to Assange and the drama of WikiLeaks, as well as the former hacker (Lamo) who turned Chelsea in to the authorities. It felt as if the author didn't have enough information to write a biography of Chelsea (which is what, to me, the book initially felt like), so additional "angles" had to be sliced into the book to pad the page count. I know little about the charges Assange is facing in Sweden, only that I find it suspicious that the case was initially considered closed, only to be reopened a few months later. The author does his best to paint Assange as a self-important meglomaniac who just wants to see his name in print; perhaps that is true, but I wouldn't trust Nicks' assessment to make up my mind, and I am looking forward to reading more about Assange and WikiLeaks in the future.

It is fairly obvious that, though the author has little insight to add that hasn't already been addressed by various news articles, that he does support Chelsea's actions.

There, of course, has to be the inevitable comparison between Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, which I feel is a bit unfair, since Chelsea has been sequestered in a military prison, while Snowden is still (precariously, at times) free (I would also love to see Obama pardon him, but I think it's less likely than Chelsea being pardoned). Snowden carefully orchestrated his leak and has remained in the public eye; he's also been able to present his motivations in a clear and concise manner, thanks to Gleen Greenwald and Laura Poitras. Chelsea, of course, did not plan her own capture; that came across as rather by accident, when she chose to reveal her actions to the wrong person at the wrong time (Adrian Lamo). Snowden also redacted some of the information and chose not to release other portions; Manning, on the other hand, just downloaded anything and everything she could find.

I'm not sure that I would recommend this book, but there's very little about Chelsea Manning and the WikiLeaks release available to read, so I can't really recommend another book in its place. ( )