Structure

The memoir is structured into three distinct parts which convey the story of Snowden’s life in chronological order. Part 1 deals with his childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood including the development of his love of computers. Part 2 details Snowden’s time working in the Intelligence Community prior to making the discoveries for which he would become famous: this section is all about providing a behind-the-scenes insight into the reality of working for the CIA and NSA. Part 3 is concerned with Snowden’s actions as a whistleblower and explores his decision-making process, the process of physically extracting the documents from the building where he worked, the liaison with journalists in Hong Kong, and the fallout from the revelations. The structure lends the story a feeling of cause and effect wherein the reader can view events from earlier in Snowden’s life as leading directly to the events of...