04628cam a2200601 i 4500 23602377 BJBSDDR 20260324135013.0 ta 240311s2024 nyuab b 001 0 eng d 2023301865 9781101973677 (paperback) 1101973676 (paperback) (OCoLC)1389339442 YDX eng rda YDX BDX OCLCQ OCLCO JBZ OCLCO MNG OCLCO HF9 DLC eng lccopycat n-us--- JK 468 C752d 2024 352.3/790973 Connelly, Matthew James, 1967- 27954 The declassification engine : what history reveals about America's top secrets / Matthew Connelly. First Vintage Books edition. New York : Vintage Books, 2024 xvii, 540 pages : some illustrations, some maps ; 21 cm text txt rdacontent unmediated n rdamedia volume nc rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references (pages [407]-502) and index. Preface: Should this book be legal? -- The radical transparency of the American republic: a reintroduction -- Pearl Harbor: the original secret -- The bomb: born secret -- Code making and code breaking: the secret of secrets -- The military-industrial complex: the dirty secret of civil-military relations -- Surveillance: other people's secrets -- Weird science: secrets that are stranger than fiction -- Following the money: trade secrets -- Spin: the flipside of secrecy -- There is no there there: the best-kept secret -- Deleting the archive: the ultimate secret -- Conclusion: The end of history as we know it. "Before World War II, transparent government was a proud tradition in the United States. In all but the most serious of circumstances, classification, covert operations, and spying were considered deeply un-American. But after the war, the power to decide what could be kept secret proved too tempting to give up. Since then, we have radically departed from that open tradition, allowing intelligence agencies, black sites, and classified laboratories to grow unchecked. Officials insist that only secrecy can keep us safe, but its true costs have gone unacknowledged for too long. Using the latest techniques in data science, historian Matthew Connelly analyzes a vast trove of state secrets to unearth not only what the government really did not want us to know but also why they didn't want us to know it. Culling this research and carefully examining a series of pivotal moments in recent history, from Pearl Harbor to drone warfare, Connelly sheds light on the drivers of state secrecy-- especially incompetence and criminality--and how rampant overclassification makes it impossible to protect truly vital information. What results is an astonishing study of power: of the greed it enables, of the negligence it protects, and of what we lose as citizens when our leaders cannot be held to account. A crucial examination of the self-defeating nature of secrecy and the dire state of our nation's archives, The Declassification Engine is a powerful reminder of the importance of preserving the past so that we may secure our future." publisher's website. Transparency (Ethics) in government United States. Transparencia en el gobierno Estados Unidos 26721 Government information Access control United States. Información gubernamental Control de acceso Estados Unidos 47678 Public administration United States. Administración pública Estados Unidos 4512 Security classification (Government documents) United States. Executive privilege (Government information) United States. Official secrets United States. Secretos de estado Estados Unidos 31644 Classification de sécurité (Documents gouvernementaux) États-Unis. Privilège de l'exécutif (Information sur l'État) États-Unis. Secrets d'État États-Unis. Information sur l'État Accès Contrôle États-Unis. Administration publique (Science) États-Unis. United States Politics and government. États-Unis Politique et gouvernement. 7 cbc copycat 2 ncip 20 y-gencatlg lcc BK rmza 125303 125303 0 0 lcc 0 0 CS BJB BJB CS 2025-09-22 0 JK 468 C752d 2024 00000183683 2025-09-22 17:51:00 1 2025-09-22 BK