Readme.txt (Vintage Publishing)

An extraordinarily brave and moving memoir from one of the world's most famous whistle-blowers, activists and trans women.In 2013, Chelsea Manning was sentenced to thirty-five years in military prison for the largest leak of classified documents in history.

The next day, Chelsea declared her gender identity as a woman and began to transition.In this radically candid memoir, Chelsea recounts how her challenging youth led her to join the US Army. She writes of the fierce pride she took in her work, the risks of the military's queer underground and the wider culture of silence and unaccountability.

She describes fifty-nine days locked in an iron cage after her fateful decision and the community of solidarity she later discovered in prison. Above all, we see the phenomenal courage and resilience it took to survive and become a global advocate for transparency.'A terrific read, full of unexpected turns and details that counter many of the assumptions made about Manning' GUARDIAN 'Brilliantly told' THE TIMES'Searing...uplifting...redemptive' NEW YORK TIMES'A full and expansive account of Manning's life, one which is often harrowing but funny and poignant too' DAZED