In 2013, Edward Snowden released a data dump of highly classified NSA materials, exposing a huge mass surveillance network that monitored and recorded more information about American and foreign citizens than had previously been thought possible or probable. In doing so, he became famous around the world—and a wanted felon.

As the memoir’s author, Snowden is in control of his self-presentation and takes care to construct a persona that is self-effacing, self-aware, and not without regrets. Incidents from his childhood and his teenage years, in which he appears foolish or naïve, have a humanizing effect. He portrays himself as an idealist who believed in the initial democratizing potential of the worldwide web and in the nobility of his country following the attacks of 9/11. He still claims to love his country, perhaps to a fault.

Snowden’s assessment of himself as exceptional, his determination that the intelligence community feels so much guilt for 9/11 that they’re willing to do anything to stop another attack, and his belief that the mass surveillance program violates every American’s constitutional protections motivate him to commit an extraordinary act.

Whether the reader views him as a self-important agent of espionage or a defender of liberty, Snowden comes across as a person of conviction.