Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War

by Steve Sheinkin Narrated by Ray Porter

Overview

From Steve Sheinkin, the award-winning author of The Port Chicago 50 and Bomb comes a tense, exciting exploration of what the Times deemed "the greatest story of the century": how Daniel Ellsberg transformed from obscure government analyst into "the most dangerous man in America," and risked everything to expose the government's deceit. On June 13, 1971, the front page of the New York Times announced the existence of a 7,000-page collection of documents containing a secret history of the Vietnam War. Known as The Pentagon Papers, these documents had been comissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Chronicling every action the government had taken in the Vietnam War, they revealed a pattern of deception spanning over twenty years and four presidencies, and forever changed the relationship between American citizens and the politicans claiming to represent their interests. A provocative audiobook that interrogates the meanings of patriotism, freedom, and integrity, Most Dangerous further establishes Steve Sheinkin as a leader in children's nonfiction.

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - Greg Grandin

…gripping…Sheinkin's book is a remarkably effective synthesis not just of Ellsberg's life but of America's long history in Vietnam. The author has a perfect ear for what might hold the attention of young readers, while at the same time gently educating them about war and governance. Most Dangerous balances drama, human interest…and analysis…Most Dangerous is also a civics lesson, showing the debates within newsrooms about whether editors had the right to publish Ellsberg's leaked information…and concluding with an epilogue on how the Ellsberg case relates to the more recent leaks by Edward Snowden. Young people in the United States are growing up in a vastly changed world, one where endless war and all-pervasive surveillance is a matter of course. Most Dangerous will help them understand how it has become so.

From the Publisher

Finalist for the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature

A National Book Award Finalist

Selected for the 2016 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People List

“Lively, detailed prose rooted in a tremendous amount of research, fully documented. . . Easily the best study of the Vietnam War available for teen readers.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Sheinkin has done again what he does so well: condense mountains of research into a concise, accessible, and riveting account of history. . . [This book] will keep readers racing forward.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Powerful and thought-provoking.” —Booklist, starred review

“Fast-paced and fascinating. . . backed up by meticulous research.” —VOYA, starred review

"Thoroughly researched, thoughtfully produced, and beautifully written . . . a timely and extraordinary addition to every library." —School & Library Journal, starred review

"Immediate and compelling . . . Here, [Sheinkin] has outdone even himself." —Horn Book, starred review

"A thrilling ride."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"Sheinkin's most compelling one yet." —The Washington Post

"Young people in the United States are growing up in a vastly changed world, one where endless war and all-pervasive surveillance is a matter of course. 'Most Dangerous' will help them understand how it has become so."—The New York Times Book Review

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2015-06-23
Following his award-winning World War II-era volumes Bomb (2012) and The Port Chicago 50 (2014), Sheinkin tells the sweeping saga of the Vietnam War and the man who blew the whistle on the government's "secret war."From 1964 to 1971, Daniel Ellsberg went from nerdy analyst for the Rand Corp. to "the most dangerous man in America." Initially a supporter of Cold War politics and the Vietnam War, he became disenchanted with the war and the lies presidents told to cover up the United States' deepening involvement in the war. He helped to amass the Pentagon Papers—"seven thousand pages of documentary evidence of lying, by four presidents and their administrations over twenty-three years"—and then leaked them to the press, fueling public dissatisfaction with American foreign policy. Sheinkin ably juggles the complex war narrative with Ellsberg's personal story, pointing out the deceits of presidents and tracing Ellsberg's rise to action. It's a challenging read but necessarily so given the scope of the study. As always, Sheinkin knows how to put the "story" in history with lively, detailed prose rooted in a tremendous amount of research, fully documented. An epilogue demonstrates how history repeats itself in the form of Edward Snowden.Easily the best study of the Vietnam War available for teen readers. (bibliography, source notes, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172020711
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	09/22/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

Read an Excerpt

Night in the Gulf of Tonkin was morning on the east coast of the United States. Daniel Ellsberg parked his white Triumph Spitfire convertible in the sprawling parking lot of the Pentagon. He got out of his car and joined the streams of men and women walking toward the massive five-sided building. This was the first day of his new job.
 Ellsberg climbed the stairs to the third floor and walked down the hall to John McNaughton’s office. It was a large suite with windows looking out across the Potomac River to the Washington Monument and the Capitol dome. McNaughton’s secretary kept watch from a desk just outside the boss’s private room. Other assistants sat in cubicles. Ellsberg entered his tiny workspace—“a cubbyhole,” he called it—barely big enough for a desk and chair, a bookcase, and two safes for classified files. There was a little window with a view of Washington. He sat down and began reading through a pile of papers.
 He did not have long to wait for the crisis his boss had promised. “My very first day on the job,” he later said, “all hell broke loose.”

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