Review by Kirkus Book Review
In his latest explosive exposé, Greenwald turns to his adopted Brazil and the corrupt machinations of its highest leaders. Having lived there since 2005 with his Brazilian partner and husband, David, a politician, and two adopted children, the American-born author has been deeply ensconced in the life of his adopted country for years. In 2018, they were alarmed by the election of Jair Bolsonaro as president, a process that was markedly similar to the aggressive nationalist trends that carried Donald Trump into office in the U.S. Like Trump, Bolsonaro, along with many of his elected officials, openly expressed authoritarian, anti-democratic, pro-military, anti--LGBTQ+ rhetoric. Contacted on Mother's Day 2019 by an anonymous Brazilian hacker then living in the U.S. who targeted Greenwald because of his involvement in the Edward Snowden intelligence leaks, the author agreed to receive reams of files that revealed years of corruption by state and national figures. Making sense of the files, Greenwald uncovered a vast web of corruption that was integral in getting Bolsonaro and his party elected by eliminating the opposition--namely, former two-term president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the center-left political leader of the Workers' Party. Greenwald published articles on the hacks in June 2019, helping to vindicate Lula, but he was met with a violent backlash by Bolsonaro and his thuggish establishment. Nonetheless, he was undeterred. "I believe we righted wrongs, reversed injustices, and exposed grave corruption," he writes. "In many ways, I regard the dangers and threats we faced as vindication that we fulfilled our core function as journalists: to unflinchingly confront those who wield power with transparency, accountability, and truth." Though some of the details may not be as revelatory to American readers as those involving Snowden and the National Security Agency, this is still a fascinating portrait of the importance of journalism in today's tumultuous political world. A courageous advocate for journalistic and democratic integrity strikes again. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
