The New York Times announced Wednesday that it plans to publish its first e-book, titled Open Secrets: WikiLeaks, War and American Diplomacy, about last year's WikiLeaks releases.

The e-book will describe how and why the Times came to publish the documents, and include "expanded profiles" of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Bradley Manning, the Army private who was charged in July 2010 for allegedly supplying Assange with the classified information. (Manning is currently being held in "maximum custody" at the Marine Corps Brig in Quantico, Virginia.) It will reprint many of the cables and war logs alongside "detailed analyses" of those documents, as well as explore the impact WikiLeaks has had on American diplomacy and government secrecy, the Times said in a statement.

The e-book will be made available through major e-booksellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the Google eBookstore and Apple's iBookstore, on January 31 — just 11 days before the physical copy of The Guardian's book on WikiLeaks hits shelves.

An excerpt from the introductory essay by New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller, which describes how the Times first got involved with WikiLeaks and the deterioration of its relationship with Assange, is available as an online preview.

Shortly after the announcement, WikiLeaks tweeted, "NYTimes does another self-serving smear.Facts wrong, top to bottom. Dark day for US journalism," with a link to the preview.





