State of War

By: James Risen

Narrated by: Boyd Gaines

James Risen has broken story after story on the abuses of power of the Bush administration.

From warrantless wiretapping to secret financial data mining to the CIA's rogue operations, he has shown again and again that the executive branch has dangerously overreached, repudiated checks and balances on its power, and maintained secrecy even with its allies in Congress. In no small part thanks to Risen and State of War, the "secret history" of the Bush years has now come partially into view.

In a new epilogue for the paperback edition, Risen describes the two-front war that President Bush is now fighting: at home against Congress and the Supreme Court, as his administration is increasingly reined in from its abuses; and in the Middle East, where George W. Bush's great gamble to bring a democratic revolution is failing radically. We must learn the lessons of Risen's history now, before it is too late.©2006 James Risen; (P)2006 Simon & Schuster, Inc. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critical to understanding how we got to Snowden.

What made the experience of listening to State of War the most enjoyable?

Enjoyable isn't exactly the term I would use. Frightening is far more appropriate.

What was one of the most memorable moments of State of War?

That intelligence experts who had spent their entire lives learning about one particular place, or person, or culture, could be completely dismissed by ignorant, political wonks with no military experience.

Have you listened to any of Boyd Gaines’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The truth hurts. It was painful.

Intreguing, riveting

Loved it!!! This book filled in many holes in the USs Intelligence for going to war with Iraq. It also explained how much actionable intelligence the US had and has on Iran.
Highly recommend.

it's what it is

the story matches the consequences we see today, and what we were seeing when the war began. and fills in the gaps with solid info. the story is binding. once you start, you finish till the end.

Very well written book.

Ending felt a bit abrupt, but that was because the book was so fascinating. It really could have been longer, but this is still worth a listen!

It's abridged...

If you could sum up State of War in three words, what would they be?

No wonder the government is still mad about the 2006 book. Too bad the audio version is abridged... It's probably censored too.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Not nice to abridge an important book like this.

Any additional comments?

Amazon and audible didn't market this book..
and now they put out an abridged version....
censoring.?