Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins

This essential, page-turning narrative on the history of drone warfare by the acclaimed author of Rumsfeld explores how this practice emerged, who made it happen, and the real consequences of targeted killing.

Assassination by drone is a subject of deep and enduring fascination, yet few understand how and why it has become our principal way of waging war. Kill Chain uncovers the real and extraordinary story of drone warfare—its origins in long-buried secret programs, the breakthroughs which made drone operations possible, the ways in which the technology works, and, despite official claims, does not work.

Taking the listener inside the well-guarded world of national security, the book reveals the powerful interests—military, CIA, and corporate—that have led the drive to kill individuals by remote control. Most importantly of all, the book describes what has really happened when the theories underpinning the strategy—and the multibillion dollar contracts they spawn—have been put to the test.

Drawing on sources deep within the military and intelligence establishments, Andrew Cockburn’s Kill Chain unveils the true effects, as demonstrated by bloody experience, of assassination warfare—a revelation that readers will find surprising and shocking.