The Puzzle Palace

The Puzzle Palace is a book written by James Bamford and published in 1982. It is the first major, popular work devoted entirely to the history and workings of the National Security Agency, a United States intelligence organization. The title refers to a nickname for the NSA, which is headquartered in Fort Meade, Maryland. In addition to describing the role of the NSA and explaining how it was organized, the book exposed details of a massive eavesdropping operation called Operation Shamrock. According to security expert Bruce Schneier the book was popular within the NSA itself, because "the agency's secrecy prevents its employees from knowing much about their own history".

Read more about The Puzzle PalaceResearch and Publication, Threatened Legal Action and Document Reclassification, Reclassified Source Documents and American Library Association Lawsuit, Reviews and Reception, Editions

Famous quotes containing the word puzzle:

    Waiting for the race to become official, he began to feel as if he had as much effect on the final outcome of the operation as a single piece of a jumbo jigsaw puzzle has to its predetermined final design. Only the addition of the missing fragments of the puzzle would reveal if the picture was as he guessed it would be.
    Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)