Crisis of Conscience

Powerful...His extensively reported tales of individual whistleblowers and their often cruel fates are compelling...They reveal what it can mean to live in an age of fraud. * Washington Post *
Tom Mueller's authoritative and timely book reveals what drives a few brave souls to expose and denounce specific cases of corruption. He describes the structural decay that plagues many of our most powerful institutions, putting democracy itself in danger. -- George Soros
A spectacular book that should be in every library in the country, in addition, as part of living room discussions and town meetings, because [whistleblowing] is the ultimate protection against wrongdoing... Thank you very much, Tom Mueller. -- Ralph Nader
"Unauthorized disclosures" by whistleblowers are the lifeblood of a republic. As many of Mueller's fascinating cases show, misplaced loyalty - exclusively to a boss or an organization or a president - can be betrayal: of the health of consumers, of an oath to the Constitution, or of a war's worth of lives. * Daniel Ellsberg, author of The Doomsday Machine *
An extraordinary book, both meticulously researched and a page-turner. Crisis of Conscience is a call to arms and to action, for anyone with a conscience, anyone alarmed about the decline of our democracy. * Wendell Potter, author of Nation on the Take *
Wide-ranging, detailed, compelling, and often alarming. -- Michael Mandelbaum
Mueller's powerful but disheartening story of pervasive fraud and a general collapse of ethical behavior with only glimmers of hope from the bravery of whistleblowers is fully accessible to general readers and substantive enough for academic audiences; a must-read. * Library Journal (Starred Review) *
Engrossingly examines the ethics, mechanics, and reverberations of whistleblowing of all kinds, emphasizing how bitterly controversial the practice remains, posing a clash between group loyalty and individual conscience... Superb reporting on brave people who decided, "It would have been criminal for me not to act." * Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) *
A fascinating history of the self-deputized referees who blow the whistle on illicit activities. * Booklist *
This exceptionally timely book is sure to strike a chord with readers paying close attention to the political landscape. * Publishers Weekly *
This trenchant examination of whistle-blowing is based on interviews with more than two hundred people who have exposed wrongdoing in areas such as national security, finance, and health care. * New Yorker *
A masterful, eye-opening account of heroes "who are fighting a rising tide of wrongdoing by the powerful." * Fast Company *