Overview

The woman at the epicenter of the Wikileaks controversy

Providing insight into Chelsea Manning's background, this biography paints a nuanced portrait that disputes her depiction in the mainstream media. As the alleged source to WikiLeaks for the biggest breach of military security in American history, Chelsea Manning has been inaccurately described as a combative outcast, a bullied and embittered homosexual, and a loser grasping for notoriety; however, this exploration into her past depicts a young woman haunted by demons and driven by hope, forced into an ethically fraught situation by a dysfunctional military bureaucracy. The Manning this book uncovers is impulsive and cocky, yet idealistic enough to follow her conscience. In leaking a vast collection of American secrets, she thought she was doing the right thing. Her story is one of global significance, and yet she remains an enigma. Now, for the first time, the full truth will be told about a woman who, at the age of only 22, changed the world.

Reviews

 "In telling the story of how the intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning came into contact with the self-promoting anti-secrecy radical Julian Assange under the pressure cooker of the Iraq war, Denver Nicks has written a page-turner that reads like a cyberthriller. It's simultaneously a coming-of-age story, a coming-out story, an X-ray of American culture in the Homeland Security era, a well-researched history of espionage, an exposé of the routinized cruelties of the 21st-century US military, and a meditation on the human costs of the cult of secrecy." —Ned Sublette, author of The World that Made New Orleans

 "WikiLeaks accomplice Chelsea Manning was a gay geek in the military at a time when 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' defined the war on all kinds of freedoms, not just sexual ones. Denver Nicks has given us a suspenseful, sensitively drawn account of righteous rage, vigilante justice, and the young woman who risked her future to make the truth known." —James Gavin, author of Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker

 "Chelsea Manning's ordinary existence becomes extraordinary through the fine writing of Nicks. The conversations between Manning, her confidants, and others are expertly woven together in a way that propels this story along like a thrilling, suspense-filled novel." —Randy L. Schmidt, author of Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter

Author Biography

Denver Nicks is a journalist who has worked in the United States, Europe, Central America, and East Asia. He has reported on the environment, economics, politics, and culture. His work has been featured in AlterNet, Daily Beast, High Country News, Newsbreak, This Land, and other publications. He lives in New York City.