The Machine Never Blinks: A Graphic History of Spying and Surveillance

by Ivan Greenberg, Everett Patterson (Artist), Joe Canlas (Artist)

This graphic history traces spying and surveillance from legends to the present. In The Machine Never Blinks , the story of surveillance is presented from its earliest days, to help you more fully understand today's headlines about every-increasing, constant, and unrelenting monitoring and global data collection. It's a threat to your rights, privacy, dignity, and sanity. This book spans surveillance from the Trojan Horse, through 9/11 and to the so-called War on Terror, which enabled the exponential growth of government and corporate intercepts and databases. It also explains spying as entertainment (reality TV) and convenience (smart speakers). Take a look around... Who's watching you right now? Black & white illustrations.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, History, Comics, Politics, Historical, Graphic Novels Comics

136 pages, Hardcover

Published June 2, 2020

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneven but thought provoking survey of spying and surveillance throughout history and how they intertwine with control of the masses and authoritarianism.

Things get off to a slow start as Greenberg goes back a little too far in history, mythology and the Bible giving us the stories of the Trojan Horse, Lady Godiva, and Judas Iscariot. Their inclusion is a bit of a stretch despite Greenberg's efforts to justify them. His theme becomes stronger in the fourth chapter as he introduces Jeremy Bentham and the Panopticon.

From there he jumps through the decades a bit haphazardly but paints a pretty good picture of consistent government overreach and general public indifference. The chapters tend to stand alone, so this is a good candidate to read a little at a time.

There are a few missteps like one chapter devoted to a fictional conversation between George Orwell and Michel Foucault and the weak framing sequence with some guy named Iggy Stone walking around randomly and eventually ending up lecturing some students in a classroom.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars!

“People who value their online privacy, and employ encryption to preserve it, may be viewed as dangerous suspects. Somehow, preserving privacy is seen as guilty conduct. People who want privacy must be hiding something.”

This begins with a fine introduction by the upstanding Ralph “The best President America never had” Nader, but the sequential work gets off to a weak start with an overemphasis on dry, historical details, over quoting the Bible etc, which becomes a little tedious.

In spite of what the author says this is not the first book of its kind to address the dark arts of the US government’s surveillance in graphic form. The likes of Pratap Chatterjee’s outstanding, “Verax” was first published back in 2017.

This provides a decent overview of the subject, with maybe a few inconsistencies here and there and the art work is nicely done. We learn about spying and its many guises, going way back to the Trojan horse right up to the terrifying sounding Nano hummingbird.

Encryption is well covered, and this touches on how Apple, in an incredibly uncharacteristically act of goodness, refused to allow government agencies secret back channels into their phones. Snowden and the FSA are mentioned too. We see that one of the latest surveillance systems by the FBI, apparently undermines the First and Fourth amendments.

We get some history into the sinister paranoia and machinations of J Edgar Hoover, Sen McCarthy and Richard Nixon, up to the current laws such as the Patriot Act (signed twice and heartily endorsed by Mr Joseph Biden). Of course ultimately we see that all of these so called “wars” whether they be on communism, extremism or terrorism are all really just wars on privacy and about control and other ways which a group of people, the vast majority of them unelected and anonymous, being allowed phenomenal access to vast amounts of privileged data and never ever being held accountable. I mean what could possibly go wrong when you chose to grant a huge entity absolute power and allow them to cover all their tracks with laws and restrictions?...

This book made me wonder, could you imagine if everyone seeking political office was subjected to the same humiliating battery of tests as millions of other workers around the world, such as initial and follow up blood and urine tests to check for drug use etc?...After all if you are holding public office, surely you should be held to far higher standards?...

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Machine Never Blinks is a fine general survey of our modern surveillance state, plus a few historical instances of Big Brother. The pre-9/11 stuff was most interesting, probably because I've lived in the War on Terror world, so I know it all too well (and am sadly numb to it).

Ivan Greenberg strikes me as a Bernie bro with a bone to pick rather than a straightforward historian. I'd even argue "graphic history" is inaccurate since the book jumps around between topics and time periods. And I'm pretty sure God and the Trojan Horse aren't truly examples of spying or surveillance. Although I learned plenty from The Machine Never Blinks, I was hoping for a book that would be fun scary, not eat your greens and like it scary.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for more depth on current surveillance trends but this is a solid, bare-bones overview of the history (esp. in the US). One key takeaway for me, reviewing these chapters which I've encountered often over the years (the Red Scare, HUAC, post-9/11 surveillance), is just how ultimately ineffective these efforts mostly seem to be.

[Granit Hysiqi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reads like a 140 page Wikipedia article.

[Alex "Kano" · Rating 3 out of 5]

El comic es una introducción muy interesante al mundo del espionaje por parte de los gobiernos a sus propios ciudadanos. El problema es que la traducción en ocasiones es pésima.

[Camille McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very compelling overview of our surveillance society and the history of surveillance, told in graphic form. I liked the style of this book a lot. The illustrations were engaging and easy to follow, and led a personal touch. I think this book is a perfect introduction to the issues of surveillance for people of all ages, from teenagers to older adults. It is simply written and gets across a lot of information in a short amount of time, and because of the illustrations and the format I feel like the information is more salient, easier to understand, and easier to remember. I learned a lot and would recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic. The author and illustrator had a brilliant approach to the subject and I hope others use similar formats to convey important lessons.

[Angelica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read. More folks need to know about this history and it’s present day occurrences.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Disclaimer: I received this book for free to review)

I was hoping for more details on the mechanics of spying and surveillance, rather than a history of how spying and surveillance has been used, which caused me to be rather disappointed with this book. But it is what it is.

This gives the history of spying and surveillance in the United States, but with a strong pro-privacy perspective. As I have said many times in my reviews of material, having a strong opinion (even if I don't agree with it) is fine, so long as the text offers arguments and recognizes nuance. This book does offer some nuance, but overall, it presents the side that surveillance and spying are bad, and that we need to make privacy a bigger concern.

It starts with the Trojan Horse (making parallels to the ancient story and today's malware), has a section on the Bible and how God is like an all-seeing surveillant and how this may have affected society's thoughts on surveillance (?). (It's not very clear to me how this particular section really adds to the discussion as it is never really explored). Then some Foucault and the Panopticon discussion. Then it does get to the history of the US. This part is better, though it is rather selective in what presents. It shows how Hoover and the FBI spied on Americans without much cause, how other spy agencies have conducted some surveillance on Americans domestically, and talks about the post 9/11 security situation.

Without citations, it is difficult to evaluate the historical arguments' accuracy. There is also little discussion in the book of what a proper amount of privacy protection is. Many of the things decried in the book (surveillance of social media, CCTV in public, public protests) are of things that already occur in public. Is it unreasonable to expect your public actions to be kept private? It seems to me that things that you make public are not obviously unacceptable for surveillance. There are certainly questions of who gets to use the information, but that seems like a separate question from whether such public data can be recorded in the first place. The book also calls Edward Snowden a whistleblower. My understanding is that many disagree with this use of the term because Snowden revealed secrets without going through the actual whistleblowing procedure the government has, and then fled rather than face the consequences of his actions (the book sort of acknowledges this by quoting former President Obama). The book also is very dismissive of the potential uses of such information in stopping crime or terrorism. I am not as certain this is true, as it would be counterintuitive, at the very least. There do need to be boundaries, but I felt like this topic was not really explored.

Overall, while I like the graphical comic aspect, I would like there to be some sort of scholarly citation backing up the statements in the book at the end of the book or elsewhere. The history is more about how surveillance and spying has been used than on the actual mechanics of doing so, and the book takes a very strong pro-privacy/anti-surveillance stance. The lack of citations is what lowers the rating down to at least 3 stars (maybe 2.5 stars in reality) for me because the authors take a strong stance, and so I would like to see their historical sources.

[Greg · Rating 1 out of 5]

***Manditory part where I mention that I received a free copy of this book via Amazon Vine***
The Machine Never Blinks is like spending an hour stuck in his Subaru Outback (which is plastered with Bernie Bro bumper-stickers) while he answers a question that you never asked bout why he isn't on Facebook. While I appreciate the conversational qualities of this graphic novel (I guess that's what this is), it's 75% "Republicans Bad?" and 25% "Big Government is the problem, but also I love Big Government Democrat programs." There are plenty of opinions, some that I agree with and some that I don't, but very few facts. The only quotations are poetic lines cut from speeches with no context, never actually to provide statistics or back up claims. The book meanders through history, sometimes talking about spying and/or surveillance, but also spending large amounts of time on irrelevant side-stories that Greenberg uses to attack people he doesn't like. The point seems to be that all surveillance in any and all forms is despicable and those that use it deserve to be ridiculed. He spends a lot of time on the Watergate Scandal and seems to have bone to pick with Clyde Tolson. Greenberg takes the time to insinuate that because Tolson was not popular with the ladies, he was probably, maybe in a homosexual relationship with Nixon. I object to a lot of things Greenberg says in this book, but why on Earth is it necessary to bring in speculations about someone's sexual orientation in a doomsday narrative about surveillance? Whether or not he was gay, straight, bi, or asexual has absolutely zero baring on the narrative or the facts; it is wholly irrelevant. Greenberg tells his version of history and takes great effort to paint his political villains, but isn't concerned with pretending to give an unbiased overlook. This really isn't a book to teach; it's a book to embolden preexisting beliefs. The art is serviceable for a graphic novel that runs on words and not artwork (unlike most graphic novels, even nonfiction ones), but the faces for real people that actually exist(ed) in the real world look absolutely nothing like their actual counterparts. If you want a narrative that reaffirms your fears that the Pentagon has an employee that watches you through your webcam and reads individual emails you send to Nana about her cat medicine orders, then maybe this book is what you are looking for. It you want a rational overview of the history of "spying and surveillance", I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

[Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came in wanting to like this. I'm very interested in the topic, and I was hoping that a comics treatment of it would help to make a dense and complex subject accessible and interesting to new audiences.

It didn't.

The biggest problem with the book is that it completely fails to take advantage of the vocabulary and potential of the medium. It's words and pictures, but it's not comics. It's a series of short, illustrated essays. Large, unwieldy captions bombard the reader with dense blocks of text, dropped on top of overly literal drawings that happen to be broken up into panels. Comics are supposed to be an interplay between words and pictures. This reads like words and pictures having an awkward blind date.

It's also a joyless, humorless slog. And look, I understand that this is a Very Serious Topic. But that makes it even more important to engage the reader and bring them along on the journey. This book assumes that the reader already believes that "surveillance = major existential threat" — when it also openly admits that many, perhaps most, people don't believe that — and then proceeds to talk *at* the reader for 130 pages. It's the comics equivalent of a Ralph Nader speech, who not coincidentally wrote the introduction for the book.

It's going to take a lot of hard work to win over enough hearts and minds to change the way our society approaches this issue. A tedious polemic is the easy, emotionally satisfying way to approach it, but it's not going to convince anyone who's not already in total agreement. It's the lefty equivalent of a stack of Chick Tracts, and only one-tenth as fun to read.

[Aidan Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This works very well as an intro to the topic of surveillance for an American audience. It contains many short chapters covering topics from the idea of panopticon prisons, to more current issues facing American activists and other groups as their members are watched more and more closely. Despite how well the art and research are done, it took me a while to get through this book. I am a fan of writers and artists who can do non-fiction graphic novels well, and I think that this is very close to that. Hopefully their next work will connect with me more. I should also mention that the history covered in this is very focused on Europe and America, not mentioning other surveillance issues around the world. American surveillance is basically all that's discussed in the later chapters, so someone looking for a more comprehensive history might be disappointed.

[Javier HG · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flojete. Esta novela gráfica no es tan fantástica como me pareció en el momento en que la cogí en la biblioteca. ¿Por qué? Por varios motivos:

1- Vale que al ser una novela gráfica no puede tener la profundidad de un libro, pero me deja con la impresión de superficialidad.
2- Se centra en los EEUU de manera casi exclusiva, cuando el sistema de cibervigilancia de China es mucho más avanzado. No lo menciona.
3- Se centra en la vigilancia de los poderes públicos cuando creo que, en el siglo XXI, la vigilancia que realmente se entromete en nuestras vidas es la de las empresas privadas. Pienso que la preocupación del autor está mal dirigida, o apenas tiene en cuenta este ángulo.

Una pena, tenía buena pinta.

[Dan Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Machine Never Blinks - this was filled with fascinating information however the execution just did not click. An overbearing amount of text at times. Did not use the medium in an effective manner to tell this story rather threw everything on the page in an unappealing fashion

It's worth reading for the history it has collected just wish it worked better within this format

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched, though basic, overview of the surveillance of private citizens throughout history. It was cool to see how the surveillance state we live in today came to be, but I wished the book was longer. The art was simple and not incredibly impressive. I feel like I would probably learn more from the "Suggested reading" provided at the end.

[Linda Klein]

A good introduction to why we should be, but generally are not, afraid of far-reaching surveillance and the organizations that tread on our privacy. I found the connections to ancient episodes of espionage such as the Trojan Horse to be amusing, but these digressions seemed a little gimmicky. There's just enough information here to tantalize the reader into seeking more in-depth resources.

[Mr. V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me lots to think about in an engaging format. It's a subject I may never have explored at this depth without a graphic novel format. I like how it explores all sorts of angles and histories of surveillance in order to explain our current lack of privacy. Great read.

[David Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent history about surveillance. A bit disappointing in that it almost entirely deals with stuff specific to America. It however does reinforce my opinion that Obama was a disappointment and J. Edgar Hoover was an everlasting bastard.

[Stephanie Caffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this book up at the library on a blind date with a book display. Overall, it was an interesting, if not terrifying read. However, it felt a bit disjointed and there were a couple sections that I felt were a stretch and couldn't decide if they were relevant or not.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[christinemm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review on Amazon. Made me think and question, hard to believe.

[Cliff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was relatively familiar with most of these subjects in the book. I would have loved to have read this when I was in college, even though it wasn't around back then. Still a fun read though.

[Lindsay Smith-Munoz]

Really interesting and worth reading. I got more than I expected out of it, but yet it didn't quite satisfy me.

[jude · Rating 3 out of 5]

very text-heavy, a little preachy in the beginning, but overall a decent history.

[Grady Gaul]

It is a very good book if you like interesting nonfiction books

[Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh; applies to how I feel about this book both on content and artwork.

[wildct2003 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raises a lot of questions about contemporary living and surveillance. Excellent read.

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an okay introduction to the history of surveillance. Pretty basic. Nothing radical and kind of dry.

[Kjersti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. And I learned quite a bit.

[Aude · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très intéressant, j’ai appris beaucoup de choses !