-
First Platoon
- A Story of Modern War in the Age of Identity Dominance
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $31.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Phenomena
- The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than 40 years, the US government has researched extrasensory perception, using it in attempts to locate hostages, fugitives, secret bases, and downed fighter jets, to divine other nations' secrets, and even to predict future threats to national security. The intelligence agencies and military services involved include CIA, DIA, NSA, DEA, the navy, air force, and army - and even the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Now, for the first time, New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen tells the story of these radical, controversial programs.
-
-
Phenomenally mediocre narration of a good book
- By philip on 05-18-17
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Operation Paperclip
- The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the chaos following World War II, the US government faced many difficult decisions, including what to do with the Third Reich's scientific minds. These were the brains behind the Nazis' once-indomitable war machine. So began Operation Paperclip, a decades-long, covert project to bring Hitler's scientists and their families to the United States. Many of these men were accused of war crimes, and others had stood trial at Nuremberg; one was convicted of mass murder and slavery.
-
-
The Osenberg list
- By Jean on 08-07-14
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Surprise, Kill, Vanish
- The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 19 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, the untold story of the CIA's secret paramilitary units.
-
-
Lots of facts, offset by too much fiction
- By Steve M on 05-24-19
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Area 51
- An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the most famous military installation in the world. And it doesn't exist. Located a mere s75 miles outside of Las Vegas in Nevada's desert, the base has never been acknowledged by the US government - but Area 51 has captivated imaginations for decades. Annie Jacobsen had exclusive access to 19 men who served the base proudly and secretly for decades and are now aged 75-92, and unprecedented access to 55 additional military and intelligence personnel, scientists, pilots, and engineers linked to the secret base, 32 of whom lived and worked there for extended periods.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Mike From Mesa on 06-06-11
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
The Pentagon's Brain
- An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the definitive history of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, in this Pulitzer Prize finalist from the author of the New York Times best seller Area 51. No one has ever written the history of the Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. In the first-ever history about the organization, New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen draws on inside sources, exclusive interviews, private documents, and declassified memos to paint a picture of DARPA, or "the Pentagon's brain".
-
-
Scientia Est Potentia/Knowledge is Power
- By Cynthia on 10-08-15
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Hunting the Jackal
- A Special Forces and CIA Soldier's Fifty Years on the Frontlines of the War Against Terrorism
- By: Billy Waugh, Tim Keown
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than half a century, Special Forces and CIA legend Billy Waugh dedicated his life to tracking down and eliminating America's most virulent enemies. Operating from the darkest shadows and most desolate corners of the world, he made his mark in many of the most important operations in the annals of US Spec Ops. He spent seven and a half years behind enemy lines in Vietnam as a member of a covert group of elite commandos.
-
-
Hunting the Jackal - epic accounting of SOF/SOG and CIA IV
- By Eric on 01-08-18
By: Billy Waugh, and others
-
Phenomena
- The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than 40 years, the US government has researched extrasensory perception, using it in attempts to locate hostages, fugitives, secret bases, and downed fighter jets, to divine other nations' secrets, and even to predict future threats to national security. The intelligence agencies and military services involved include CIA, DIA, NSA, DEA, the navy, air force, and army - and even the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Now, for the first time, New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen tells the story of these radical, controversial programs.
-
-
Phenomenally mediocre narration of a good book
- By philip on 05-18-17
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Operation Paperclip
- The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the chaos following World War II, the US government faced many difficult decisions, including what to do with the Third Reich's scientific minds. These were the brains behind the Nazis' once-indomitable war machine. So began Operation Paperclip, a decades-long, covert project to bring Hitler's scientists and their families to the United States. Many of these men were accused of war crimes, and others had stood trial at Nuremberg; one was convicted of mass murder and slavery.
-
-
The Osenberg list
- By Jean on 08-07-14
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Surprise, Kill, Vanish
- The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 19 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, the untold story of the CIA's secret paramilitary units.
-
-
Lots of facts, offset by too much fiction
- By Steve M on 05-24-19
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Area 51
- An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the most famous military installation in the world. And it doesn't exist. Located a mere s75 miles outside of Las Vegas in Nevada's desert, the base has never been acknowledged by the US government - but Area 51 has captivated imaginations for decades. Annie Jacobsen had exclusive access to 19 men who served the base proudly and secretly for decades and are now aged 75-92, and unprecedented access to 55 additional military and intelligence personnel, scientists, pilots, and engineers linked to the secret base, 32 of whom lived and worked there for extended periods.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Mike From Mesa on 06-06-11
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
The Pentagon's Brain
- An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the definitive history of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, in this Pulitzer Prize finalist from the author of the New York Times best seller Area 51. No one has ever written the history of the Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. In the first-ever history about the organization, New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen draws on inside sources, exclusive interviews, private documents, and declassified memos to paint a picture of DARPA, or "the Pentagon's brain".
-
-
Scientia Est Potentia/Knowledge is Power
- By Cynthia on 10-08-15
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Hunting the Jackal
- A Special Forces and CIA Soldier's Fifty Years on the Frontlines of the War Against Terrorism
- By: Billy Waugh, Tim Keown
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than half a century, Special Forces and CIA legend Billy Waugh dedicated his life to tracking down and eliminating America's most virulent enemies. Operating from the darkest shadows and most desolate corners of the world, he made his mark in many of the most important operations in the annals of US Spec Ops. He spent seven and a half years behind enemy lines in Vietnam as a member of a covert group of elite commandos.
-
-
Hunting the Jackal - epic accounting of SOF/SOG and CIA IV
- By Eric on 01-08-18
By: Billy Waugh, and others
-
The Devil's Chessboard
- Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government
- By: David Talbot
- Narrated by: Peter Altschuler
- Length: 25 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An explosive, headline-making portrait of Allen Dulles, the man who transformed the CIA into the most powerful - and secretive - colossus in Washington, from the founder of Salon.com and author of the New York Times best seller Brothers.
-
-
Disturbing. Makes you question the company line.
- By KTS on 02-06-16
By: David Talbot
-
Gray Work
- Confessions of an American Paramilitary Spy
- By: Jamie Smith
- Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this unprecedented audiobook, a paramilitary contractor with more than two decades of experience gives us a firsthand look into the secret lives of America's private warriors and their highly covert work around the world. Author Jamie Smith has planned and executed hundreds of missions on behalf of government agencies and private industry in some of the world's most dangerous hot spots - and lived to tell the tale.
-
-
Don't believe a word of it.
- By Dustin Harry on 08-26-15
By: Jamie Smith
-
The CIA as Organized Crime
- How Illegal Operations Corrupt America and the World
- By: Douglas Valentine
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The author of three books on CIA operations, Douglas Valentine began his research into the agency's activities when CIA director William Colby gave him free access to interview agency officials who had been involved in various aspects of the Phoenix program in South Vietnam. It was a permission Colby was to regret. The CIA would eventually rescind it and made every effort to impede publication of The Phoenix Program, which documented an elaborate system of population surveillance, control, entrapment, imprisonment, torture, and assassination in Vietnam.
-
-
The CIA as Organized Crime: A personal perspective
- By Ray Robles on 09-13-17
-
The Fighters
- By: C. J. Chivers
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Almost 2.5 million Americans have served in Afghanistan or Iraq since September 11, 2001. C.J. Chivers has reported from both fronts from the beginning, walking side by side with combatants for more than a dozen years. He describes the experience of war today as it is endured by those most at risk - the camaraderie and profound sense of purpose, alongside courage, frustration, and moral confusion mixed with technical precision. In these remote places where the reason for their presence is sometimes not clear, these young men kill or are killed, facing palpable and often constant threat of ambush or hidden bombs....
-
-
a very human perspective...
- By dustin on 08-22-18
By: C. J. Chivers
-
Black Ops
- The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior
- By: Ric Prado
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Enrique Prado found himself in his first firefight at age seven. The son of a middle-class Cuban family caught in the midst of the Castro Revolution, his family fled their war-torn home for the hope of a better life in America. Fifty years later, the Cuban refugee retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as the CIA equivalent of a two-star general. Black Ops is the story of Ric’s legendary career that spanned two eras, the Cold War and the Age of Terrorism.
-
-
Worth it
- By Blake on 03-02-22
By: Ric Prado
-
American Cipher
- Bowe Bergdahl and the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan
- By: Matt Farwell, Michael Ames
- Narrated by: Christopher Ryan Grant
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The explosive narrative of the life, captivity, and trial of Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who was abducted by the Taliban and whose story has served as a symbol for America's foundering war in Afghanistan.
-
-
An epic he had written in his imagination...
- By Darwin8u on 03-18-19
By: Matt Farwell, and others
-
First Casualty
- The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11
- By: Toby Harnden
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This dramatic true story reveals the secret mission of the eight members of the CIA’s Team Alpha, the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11.
-
-
Deeply researched
- By J. Geske on 09-08-21
By: Toby Harnden
-
Whispers in the Tall Grass
- By: Nick Brokhausen
- Narrated by: George Spelvin
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On his second combat tour, Nick Brokhausen served in Recon Team Habu, CCN. This unit was part of MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observations Group), or Studies and Observations Group as it was innocuously called. The small recon companies that were the center of its activities conducted some of the most dangerous missions of the war, infiltrating areas controlled by the North Vietnamese in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The companies never exceeded more than 30 Americans, yet they were the best source for the enemy's disposition.
-
-
OUTSTANDING
- By James on 12-21-19
By: Nick Brokhausen
-
Zapped
- From Infrared to X-rays, the Curious History of Invisible Light
- By: Bob Berman
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How much do you know about the radiation all around you? Your electronic devices swarm with it; the sun bathes you in it. It's zooming at you from cell towers, microwave ovens, CT scans, mammogram machines, nuclear power plants, deep space, even the walls of your basement. You cannot see, hear, smell, or feel it, but there is never a single second when it is not flying through your body. Too much of it will kill you, but without it you wouldn't live a year.
-
-
Wow, such a great book
- By johnathan on 11-16-21
By: Bob Berman
-
The Ratline
- The Exalted Life and Mysterious Death of a Nazi Fugitive
- By: Philippe Sands
- Narrated by: Philippe Sands, Katja Riemann, Stephen Fry
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Baron Otto von Wächter, Austrian lawyer, husband, father, high Nazi official, senior SS officer, former governor of Galicia during the war, creator and overseer of the Krakow ghetto, indicted after as a war criminal for the mass murder of more than 100,000 Poles, hunted by the Soviets, the Americans, the British, by Simon Wiesenthal, on the run for three years, from 1945 to 1948....
-
-
Amazing Story
- By Bob K on 11-17-21
By: Philippe Sands
-
Directorate S
- The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
- By: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 28 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Resuming the narrative of his Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars, best-selling author Steve Coll tells for the first time the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11.
-
-
Slow At Times But Always Horrifying And Engaging
- By Gillian on 02-20-18
By: Steve Coll
-
Witch Hunt
- The Story of the Greatest Mass Delusion in American Political History
- By: Gregg Jarrett
- Narrated by: Charles Constant, Gregg Jarrett
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Witch Hunt, Gregg Jarrett uncovers the bureaucratic malfeasance and malicious politicization of our country’s justice system. The law was weaponized for partisan purposes. Even though it was Hillary Clinton’s campaign that collected and disseminated a trove of lies about Trump from a former British spy and Russian operatives, Democrats and the media spun this into a claim that Trump was working for the Russians.
-
-
Must Listen for All Americans
- By Parker David Lloyd on 10-08-19
By: Gregg Jarrett
Publisher's Summary
A powerful story of war in our time, of love of country, the experience of tragedy, and a platoon at the center of it all.
This is a story that starts off close and goes very big. The initial part of the story might sound familiar at first: it is about a platoon of mostly 19-year-old boys sent to Afghanistan, and an experience that ends abruptly in catastrophe. Their part of the story folds into the next: inexorably linked to those soldiers and never comprehensively reported before is the US Department of Defense’s quest to build the world’s most powerful biometrics database, with the ability to identify, monitor, catalog, and police people all over the world.
First Platoon is an American saga that illuminates a transformation of society made possible by this new technology. Part war story, part legal drama, it is about identity in the age of identification. About humanity - physical bravery, trauma, PTSD, a yearning to do right and good - in the age of biometrics, which reduce people to iris scans, fingerprint scans, voice patterning, detection by odor, gait, and more. And about the power of point of view in a burgeoning surveillance state.
Based on hundreds of formerly classified documents, FOIA requests, and exclusive interviews, First Platoon is an investigative exposé by a master chronicler of government secrets. First Platoon reveals a post-9/11 Pentagon whose identification machines have grown more capable than the humans who must make sense of them. A Pentagon so powerful it can cover up its own internal mistakes in pursuit of endless wars. And a people at its mercy, in its last moments before a fundamental change so complete it might be impossible to take back.
Critic Reviews
One of Houston Chronicle's "10 Books That Brought a Little Magic to Their Genres" in 2021
One of Science for the People's "Best Science Books of the Year"
On The Octavian's 2021 Book List
“Jacobsen brings empathy, compassion, compelling writing and some truly dogged reporting.” (The Washington Post)
“Jacobsen follows the lives of Americans told to gather that data in Afghanistan - and she questions what the U.S. government means to do with it all.” (NPR)
“A deeply researched book about modern warfare. A startling prompt to stop worrying about fabricated conspiracy theories and to consider for a moment actual threats to privacy.” (Houston Chronicle)
More from the same
Author
Narrator
What listeners say about First Platoon
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 01-19-21
An eye opener
Want to know how far we’ve come to living in a universe that resembles Goerge Orwell’s, 1984, where Big Brother is watching everything we do and can make life and death decisions with impunity? Want to know how this exact technology was used to free a war criminal and is going to try and be used to free another one? And what the implications of these 2 cases mean to you and I? Read this Pulitzer Prize Finalist book and find out. 5 stars out of 5 for me.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Belle B.
- 01-14-21
An Absolutely Must Listen To
I discovered Annie about 2 years ago. This year I listened to all her books available on Audible. She is an amazing storyteller. Her details really paint a full picture, and the people she tells about become so real, I feel like I’ve met them. Her voice is also very soothing, so I’m delighted she narrates her own books. This book was a little hard to listen to, because I know service members who have died in Afghanistan, and have loved ones that served there. It was raw, real, and so thought provoking. This book builds a lot on subjects discussed in The Pentagon’s Brain, and highlights an area that is getting a lot of news these days: bio-metrics, tracking, and government transparency. What I really appreciate about Annie’s style, is that she presents the facts, without making judgments, she lets the reader ponder and draw their own conclusions. She presents multiple sides to each story, and shows how blurred the lines can be, especially in the world of military and intelligence. I would recommend this book, and then go get all of them. Your mind will be blown. I’m eagerly awaiting her next release.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jenny O’Neal
- 01-25-21
Very interesting
I generally love everything Annie Jacobson does... when this book started I was really struggling to figure out what it was going to be about and where it was going, and by the end it all made sense.... very very interesting food for thought.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J.Brock
- 07-04-21
Incredible
This has to be Annie Jacobsen's best work. And that's saying a lot. She's able to terrify, intrigue, and spellbind a reader. Identify dominance became even more real for the average person this past year. And it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. What a wonderful book. The only drawback, and it's not major at all, is the narration. The author narrating can go either way. It's good this time and well paced. But not always. But who cares, because the story is that good.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kerri
- 01-25-21
minority report
Minority report was just a primer, for First Platoon, as it is a primer for what is to come of big brother. this story of technology development and possible human manipulation is a must read!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RL
- 01-18-21
Narration
I thought the writer narrating he own work would be better than average. In this case, not so much. She pauses in the middle of sentences, as you do, but the places she choses to stop are weird. Right from the beginning of the book, her speech patterns took me right out of the story. The material is compelling, and I enjoyed it immensely. Just wish I had not done this book as "audio".
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jason
- 04-15-21
Incredible Journalism
Annie paints a picture of a dystopian future driven by DNA, future crime prediction, and the reduction of a human to a digital, probabilistic value. Incredible research and storytelling has this prescient book sitting extraordinarily well in the spirit of the age.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 04-15-21
Great Read
Very informational and interesting read for military enthusiasts who are curious about the future of their activities. She adds a unique casual touch that helps the reader relate to the personal accounts given in the book. There are amazing visuals from these accounts that support the books' intentions of providing an entertaining and action-packed story. She is a great narrator and her voice and demeanor help to translate the complex topics in the book as you transition with her through each chapter. Overall a nice read.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kimberly Kocak
- 02-07-21
very interesting overall
excellent narrator. story is very intertwined and pertinent to the direction of military. raises important points about surveillance
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Galen W.
- 02-05-21
Would recommend to a friend
With the exception of “Phenomena” I have absolutely loved every book Annie Jacobsen has written and read. This was no different. There were many twists in the story and many of these twists are very important to todays climate and government.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Andy
- 12-21-22
Another detail packed book
Another detail packed book from this author. Annie presents an interesting look at how modern warfare is fought with identity at is forefront. It’s quite an eye opener when you hear that the surveillance techniques used by the military are now being adopted by law enforcement and the possibility for misuse or incorrect analyses of data. Another chip away at our privacy laws, which seem to be eroded every year under the guise of national security. Read expertly by the author at an easy to listen pace. I recommend all the books from this author if military history and warfare are of interest to you.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Snej
- 10-15-22
Editor missing
I love her other books, but this book should have been shortened considerably. It is deeply frustrating to hear the same names or actions (taking fingerprints, putting it in the system) what is felt 3000times.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Matthew
- 06-19-22
Great book on biometric capture.
Shows that the real enemy is not the biometric capture but humans with agendas.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mr T Kearney
- 05-10-22
I enjoyed this title. Interesting chapter of GWOT.
I really liked the story. Good history of biometrics and it's use in the GWOT. As usual Jacobsen tells it her way with facts and figures.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Moneenroe
- 02-27-22
A Must Read
Superbly researched. Well done Annie Jacobsen. An exposé of the perfidy of the direction the world is going and its conclusion is obvious. The egregious abuse of data resulting in a pardon for an obvious psychopath is disturbing. Thank you for writing this book.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Dave Duggan
- 03-24-21
Amazing
Best book I’ve read all year. This is a must read as are all of Annie’s books
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Gordon B
- 01-18-21
Fantastic book
Another great book by Annie, I have many of her books and this one doesn’t disappoint.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 11-18-21
Not her best work
The whole first part of the book is tiresome and laborious. It really was hard to listen to. the middle section and towards the end is insightful and we'll written. this is the only reason it got the score I have it. She does a great job at the performance. I have read all of her books, and I can't help but feel let down by this one.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Bill H
- 04-24-21
Everyone concerned about surveillance read this.
This is an excellent examination of biometrics surveillance. Jacobsen’s analysis is superb. I would advise anyone to think about this and the implications of state control of knowledge of everyone’s genotype and phenotype.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 04-06-21
Excellent
A must read to preserve the bulwark of democracy. The genetic panopticon is real and ever growing. The time to act is now.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Josh
- 01-27-21
Always great work from Annie Jacobsen
This is another thorough narrative of the use of biometrics in the battlefield and beyond. Jacobsen explores the use of biometric data in the establishment of a western style Rule of Law judiciary system in Afghanistan via the story of a young platoon.
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Phenomena
- The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than 40 years, the US government has researched extrasensory perception, using it in attempts to locate hostages, fugitives, secret bases, and downed fighter jets, to divine other nations' secrets, and even to predict future threats to national security. The intelligence agencies and military services involved include CIA, DIA, NSA, DEA, the navy, air force, and army - and even the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Now, for the first time, New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen tells the story of these radical, controversial programs.
-
-
Phenomenally mediocre narration of a good book
- By philip on 05-18-17
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
The Pentagon's Brain
- An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the definitive history of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, in this Pulitzer Prize finalist from the author of the New York Times best seller Area 51. No one has ever written the history of the Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. In the first-ever history about the organization, New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen draws on inside sources, exclusive interviews, private documents, and declassified memos to paint a picture of DARPA, or "the Pentagon's brain".
-
-
Scientia Est Potentia/Knowledge is Power
- By Cynthia on 10-08-15
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Surprise, Kill, Vanish
- The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 19 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, the untold story of the CIA's secret paramilitary units.
-
-
Lots of facts, offset by too much fiction
- By Steve M on 05-24-19
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Area 51
- An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the most famous military installation in the world. And it doesn't exist. Located a mere s75 miles outside of Las Vegas in Nevada's desert, the base has never been acknowledged by the US government - but Area 51 has captivated imaginations for decades. Annie Jacobsen had exclusive access to 19 men who served the base proudly and secretly for decades and are now aged 75-92, and unprecedented access to 55 additional military and intelligence personnel, scientists, pilots, and engineers linked to the secret base, 32 of whom lived and worked there for extended periods.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Mike From Mesa on 06-06-11
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Operation Paperclip
- The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the chaos following World War II, the US government faced many difficult decisions, including what to do with the Third Reich's scientific minds. These were the brains behind the Nazis' once-indomitable war machine. So began Operation Paperclip, a decades-long, covert project to bring Hitler's scientists and their families to the United States. Many of these men were accused of war crimes, and others had stood trial at Nuremberg; one was convicted of mass murder and slavery.
-
-
The Osenberg list
- By Jean on 08-07-14
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Gray Work
- Confessions of an American Paramilitary Spy
- By: Jamie Smith
- Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this unprecedented audiobook, a paramilitary contractor with more than two decades of experience gives us a firsthand look into the secret lives of America's private warriors and their highly covert work around the world. Author Jamie Smith has planned and executed hundreds of missions on behalf of government agencies and private industry in some of the world's most dangerous hot spots - and lived to tell the tale.
-
-
Don't believe a word of it.
- By Dustin Harry on 08-26-15
By: Jamie Smith
-
Phenomena
- The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than 40 years, the US government has researched extrasensory perception, using it in attempts to locate hostages, fugitives, secret bases, and downed fighter jets, to divine other nations' secrets, and even to predict future threats to national security. The intelligence agencies and military services involved include CIA, DIA, NSA, DEA, the navy, air force, and army - and even the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Now, for the first time, New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen tells the story of these radical, controversial programs.
-
-
Phenomenally mediocre narration of a good book
- By philip on 05-18-17
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
The Pentagon's Brain
- An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the definitive history of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, in this Pulitzer Prize finalist from the author of the New York Times best seller Area 51. No one has ever written the history of the Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. In the first-ever history about the organization, New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen draws on inside sources, exclusive interviews, private documents, and declassified memos to paint a picture of DARPA, or "the Pentagon's brain".
-
-
Scientia Est Potentia/Knowledge is Power
- By Cynthia on 10-08-15
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Surprise, Kill, Vanish
- The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 19 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, the untold story of the CIA's secret paramilitary units.
-
-
Lots of facts, offset by too much fiction
- By Steve M on 05-24-19
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Area 51
- An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the most famous military installation in the world. And it doesn't exist. Located a mere s75 miles outside of Las Vegas in Nevada's desert, the base has never been acknowledged by the US government - but Area 51 has captivated imaginations for decades. Annie Jacobsen had exclusive access to 19 men who served the base proudly and secretly for decades and are now aged 75-92, and unprecedented access to 55 additional military and intelligence personnel, scientists, pilots, and engineers linked to the secret base, 32 of whom lived and worked there for extended periods.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Mike From Mesa on 06-06-11