decades later with Poindexter's reputation tainted due to his role in the Iran-Contra Scandal, other Washington insiders have the same dream. Harris also details how the advance of the digital age put the National Security Agency (NSA) at a crossroads, with past tactics such as direct tapping of phone lines becoming a thing of the past. Still, though the U.S. become more and more important as a global tele-communications hub for the rest of the world, U.S. law strictly put limits on domestic spying by agencies such as the NSA meant to look outward. He states that while nobody in the intelligence service that he looked at had any ill intentions or felt dismissive of privacy concerns, they still operated in a world where their bureaucracies' actions snowballed. As stated before, he writes that mass surveillance in the U.S. accelerated due to the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. The NSA's Director, Michael Hayden, spearheads a successful secret campaign to persuade the rest of the Bush administration to expand the efforts made previously under the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program, which itself ended in 2003 due to Congressional opposition. Hadyen and his allies take a widely expansive interpretation of the law around executive branch authority. As Harris details, the NSA organizes its own internal efforts to sort through the vast data cloud of e-mails, phone calls, and the like that become codified and bureaucratized as the years go on. Reviews and reception Booklist gave the work critical praise, stating that "Harris sifts through a confusing array of acronyms, fascinating characters, and chilling operations to offer an absorbing look at modern spying technology and how it impacts average Americans." Also, Publishers Weekly remarked that "Harris carefully examines how the nexus between terrorism and technology" and lauded the book's "informative and dramatic narrative". Alexandra Silver of Time remarked that the book "reads like a spy novel". The publication Library Journal called the book "controversial" and "important" while also comparing it to the fictional thriller The Bell Ringers. See also 2010 in literature John Poindexter Mass surveillance in the United States National Security Agency NSA electronic surveillance program Stellar Wind (code name) Total Information Awareness (TIA) References External links The Watchers: The Rise of America’s Surveillance State - Event 2010 non-fiction books Books about the National Security Agency Books on anti-terrorism policy of the United States Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in