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  • Published: 20 November 2022
  • ISBN: 9781847925619
  • Imprint: Bodley Head
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $45.00

README.txt

A Memoir

Formats & editions
Hardback
20 Nov 2022
EBook
20 Oct 2022
Audiobook
20 Oct 2022
Paperback
3 Oct 2023
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The extraordinarily dramatic story of one of the world's most famous whistle-blowers and trans women

An extraordinarily brave and moving memoir from one of the world's most famous whistle-blowers, activists and trans women.

In 2010 Chelsea Manning, working as an intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army in Iraq, disclosed 720,000 classified military documents that she had smuggled out via the memory card of her digital camera. In March 2011, the United States Army sentenced Manning to thirty-five years in military prison, charging her with twenty-two counts relating to the unauthorized possession and distribution of classified military documents. The day after her conviction, Manning declared her gender identity as a woman and began to transition. In 2017, President Barack Obama commuted her sentence and she was released from prison.

In her memoir, Manning recounts how her pleas for increased institutional transparency and government accountability took place alongside a fight to defend her rights as a trans woman. She reveals her challenging childhood, her struggles as an adolescent, what led her to join the military, and the fierce pride she took in her work. We also learn the details of how and why she made the decision to send classified military documents to WikiLeaks.

This powerful, observant memoir will stand as one of the definitive testaments of the digital age.

**CHOSEN AS A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK TO WATCH OUT FOR, A NEW STATESMAN BOOK TO READ, AND ONE OF COSMOPOLITAN'S BEST FORTHCOMING BOOKS**
  • Published: 20 November 2022
  • ISBN: 9781847925619
  • Imprint: Bodley Head
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $45.00
Categories:

About the author

Chelsea Manning

Chelsea Elizabeth Manning is an American activist, whistleblower, politician and former United States Army soldier.

Her Twitter account is @xychelsea.

Praise for README.txt

One of the bravest persons alive

Yanis Varoufakis

Chelsea Manning is the biggest hero that ever lived

Vivienne Westwood

A heroine to millions

Alan Moore

Manning brought to light a number of human rights violations committed by the CIA and American military, many of which led to civilian deaths... but the crimes she exposed have never been investigated ... Many people view her as an American hero

Dazed

She has inspired countless people around the world ... I regard Chelsea Manning as one of this generation's greatest heroes

Glenn Greenwald

A searing personal element ... Although troubling to read, it manages to be uplifting as well

The New York Times

Electrifying ... an insider confessional turned inside out for the 21st century ... Manning reckons with this complex relationship of sex and gender to political radicalism ... absorbing ... sublime

Washington Post

A terrific read, full of unexpected turns and details that counter many of the assumptions made about Manning at the time ... Opens like a Jason Bourne novel

Guardian

Gripping ... It takes extraordinary qualities to do some of the things she recounts in this book ... Manning has become a new kind of American heroine

Observer

Forceful ... To those who see Manning as a hero, [her memoir] will only intensify that feeling, given all the hardships she has overcome. Those who see villainy may perhaps find their views tempered by sympathy

Sunday Times

A compelling, taut account of what she experienced and a persuasive justification of how she behaved

Guardian

A candidly told story from activist Chelsea Manning, which turns the tell-all confessional upside down. ... Chelsea moves through her life story with poignant, personal detail ... It's shocking to read what she's witnessed and triumphed over.

The Face

Harrowing ... affecting

New Statesman

[A] brilliantly told book

The Times

A full and expansive account of Manning's life, one which is often harrowing but funny and poignant too

Dazed

Chelsea Manning, with huge courage, exposed crimes of US imperialism and at the same time went through a personal journey of liberation. She details it all in a new book, Readme.txt ... Her story is about resistantance to war - and also fighting to be free.

Socialist Worker