I became haunted by the awareness that we the public – the public not just of one country but of all the world – had never been granted a vote or even a chance to voice our opinion in this process. (Preface)

Importance: Snowden lays out one of his core arguments: that regardless of each individual’s views about the benefits and risks of mass surveillance, prior to his revelations this was not a conversation that could be meaningful had in public, because the public were not informed about what was happening.

The Jocelins and their descendants – the Moores and Halls and Meylands and Howells and Stevens and Restons and Stokleys – who comprise the rest of my mother’s side fought in every war in my country’s history, from the Revolution and the Civil War… to both world wars. Mine is a family that has always answered the call of duty. (chapter 2)

Importance: Snowden gives...