PLAYING TO THE EDGE by General Michael V. Hayden

General Michael V. Hayden spoke about his book, Playing to the Edge, at Politics & Prose on Wednesday, February 24, 2016.

Hayden, a retired Air Force four-star general, headed the NSA from 1999 to 2005, and was CIA director from 2006 to 2009. Now a principal with the Chertoff Group, a security consultancy, Hayden offers a clear-eyed assessment of national security decisions, both before and after 9/11. Striving for a “straightforward and readable history” of recent policy that includes controversial measures such as surveillance, rendition and targeted killing, Hayden outlines the challenges faced by U.S. security agencies and the options available at the time. Hayden is in conversation with Scott Shane, New York Times national security reporter and author of Objective Troy.