J Edgar Hoover

Average customer rating:

Thriller from beginning to end
A chilling thriller
The Hoover Print should have been 5 stars!
Hoover Print is An Absolutely Fantastic Mystery/Action Novel

The Hoover Print
Robert L. Bitterli
Manufacturer: Devin Lane Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1893980006

Book Description

A-J Entertainment Editor Robert Bitterli stretches history into a fictional plot line in his impressive first novel ''The Hoover Print, with readers glued to each page and perhaps unwittingly rooting for a crafty killer who gradually crosses one name after another off of a very short list after a series of assassinations take place in 1969. Law enforcement officials discover one of the late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's fingerprints at the scene of each subsequent murder, with Bitterli making the readers privy to the killer's identity throughout.

Any number of authors would be content with the focus on young, beautiful and deadly FBI agent Christine Peal and the bureau's search for this ''Hoover killer,'' as well as the many close calls and clever disguises and, ultimately, reasons behind a 30-year lust for revenge.

Bitterli, however, grants his story further depth by expanding its boundaries, making the past as important as the present and unveiling the possibility of a heavily financed conspiracy that already has bought off lawmakers with the intention of soon controlling the leadership of entire countries. In effect, the killer who dominates Bitterli's pages becomes the lesser of two evils and the only chance for the current FBI to identify and stop conspirators before it is too late. It is an unusual approach a well-trained criminal as the story's hero made all the more remarkable by Bitterli's willingness to share information with the reader throughout. That is, the reader already knows most of the information being sought by law enforcement and, in the process, can't help but feel placed in the killer's shoes and empathize accordingly. Not that the killer isn't extremely well placed. The use of one of Hoover's fingerprints makes it obvious that FBI security has been breached, but no one on board has put together enough pieces of the puzzle to figure out that the apparent serial killer actually is reporting to work at the Hoover Building each day, asked to investigate her own crimes and eventually hoping that Hoover's long lost personal files will vindicate her own actions. What keeps readers turning pages is wordsmith Bitterli's ability to make the smallest details interesting down to weapon construction, the legal process and the small mistakes that often trip up even the most clever criminals and a growing desire to know specifically how a corrupt FBI director could possibly play a major role in a coup being set into motion three decades after his death.

Customer Reviews:

Thriller from beginning to end.......2001-03-12

I read this book from beginning to end. It started off slow but as the suspense got more and more exciting I could not put the book down. I,m looking forward to Mr bitterlis new book very soon.

A chilling thriller.......2001-01-04

At the Federal Courthouse in Washington DC, the "janitor" fired one shot at former President Canfield splattering his skull and brain all over the place. Agent Tom West connects this assassination with the murder of FBI agent Michael Ballard ten years ago. In common is J. Edgar Hoover's fingerprint at the scene of both homicides.

Assisted by Agent Christine Peal, Michael begins to find a link to events started in 1969 with a rare occurrence of FBI and CIA cooperation by concurrent assassinations in Cameroon and DC, but one of the witnesses requiring elimination escaped. As the two Feds begin to uncover a conspiracy that envisions taking over the country, they realize that this is more than a case of revenge. They must first solve the conspiracy that leads to some of America's most powerful leaders before they can capture the "Hoover killer". Either side of the puzzle contains individuals who would prefer to see Agents West and Peal removed officially or preferably dead.

THE HOOVER PRINT is an exciting political thriller based on the concept that history is linear so that a minor, almost unnoticed event beyond an immediate family's awareness, can still lead to major impact years later. The story line is loaded with detail that surprisingly enhances the belief in the non-stop action as genuine. Readers will empathize with the killer and root for the Feds to uncover the truth because the audience will want to know how Hoover is reaching out from the grave years after his death. Fans will desire more thrillers like this one from first time author Robert Bitterli.

Harriet Klausner

The Hoover Print should have been 5 stars!.......2000-03-23

This first novel by Robert Bitterli is a great story. The strong female protaginist is something you don't see everyday. Unfortunately the book is filled with errors. Editing shouldn't and doesn't just mean running a spell checker. This author deserves a competent editor. Bravo Mr. Bitterli, I am looking forward to your next try.

Hoover Print is An Absolutely Fantastic Mystery/Action Novel.......1999-11-16

I'm a sucker for a great mystery and The Hoover Print didn'tlet me down. A first novel by Robert Bitterli, The Hoover Printcombines exceptional character development, suspense and action into a book you simply can't put down. I enjoyed every page and can't wait for the movie!

FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr: From "Solo" to Memphis

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FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr: From "Solo" to Memphis
David J. Garrow
Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393015092

Young J. Edgar: Hoover, the Red Scare, and the Assault on Civil Liberties

Average customer rating:

Required Reading
History Repeats Itself...History Repeats Itself...

Young J. Edgar: Hoover, the Red Scare, and the Assault on Civil Liberties
Kenneth D. Ackerman
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0786717750

Book Description

In 1919, when J. Edgar Hoover was 24 years old, a New York City postal clerk discovered sixteen bombs wrapped in individual packages — America’s first instance of homegrown terrorism. Then-Attorney General Palmer vowed a crackdown and enlisted Hoover as his deputy. Amid the hysteria, details of abuses emerged, Palmer fell, and the rise of J. Edgar Hoover began.

Hoover’s drive to gain immense power, as well as his coolness and calculation, is explored in Young J. Edgar.

With the Palmer raid a as a lens through which to view the terror–hysteria of post-9/11 America, Young J. Edgar reaches the heart of our modern debate over personal freedom in a time of war and fear.

Customer Reviews:

Required Reading.......2007-06-09

And we thought Joe McCarthy invented "McCarthyism!" Fascinating and well written. We not only learn that Attorney General Mitchell Palmer wrote the book on creating mass hysteria to assault anything one happens to dislike, but we gain a broader understanding of how easily attitudes can be swayed for egregious purposes in this country. Given that Young J. Edgar earned his stripes by implementing Palmer's plans, it's not hard to understand how he could so easily pick and choose the information he wanted to assail Martin Luther King, Jr. and scores of others he disliked. Ackerman did his homework and presented it very nicely.

History Repeats Itself...History Repeats Itself..........2007-06-07

An excellent biography of Hoover's early years--a time that is often eclipsed by the later years when Hoover was a well established bureaucrat. Young J. Edgar looks at the circumstances--surroundings and people--who led to the formation of the man. Ackerman's descriptions of the Palmer Raids of nearly 90 years ago can't help but make the reader think of post 9/11 America and the way "we" treat our own citizens and their "inalienable" civil rights. It really makes you think. America has to find a way to protect ourselves without losing sight of what makes this country great--freedom of speech, thought, religion etc. The freedom to ask questions and be different are two of the qualities that make America great. Pick up a copy of Young J. Edgar, learn about Hoover the man and the post WWI era, and let's try not to keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

The Union Station Massacre: The Original Sin of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI

Average customer rating:

A Very Enjoyable Book
You won't get the truth from the "Hooverized" FBI
Friendly Fire
Not worth the trees it took to publish
Awesome

The Union Station Massacre: The Original Sin of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI
Robert Unger
Manufacturer: Kansas City Star Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1933466081

Product Description

The Union Station Massacre tells the story of how a bloody shoot-out in Kansas City in 1933 became the lynchpin for J. Edgar Hoover's successful tranformation of the FBI from a powerless subagency into a law-enforcement juggernaut. Using dubious authority and outright lies, Hoover's FBI turned the massacre case into a witch-hunt for "Pretty Boy" Floyd and Adam Richetti. Floyd was gunned down in a field in Ohio, and Richetti was convicted of murder and executed, based on perjured testimony and manipulated evidence. All the while, the FBI scrupulously avoided the truth. The Union Station Massacre strips away years of legend to reveal what truly happened that June day in 1933. The story it tells will change the way Americans look at J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI.

Customer Reviews:

A Very Enjoyable Book.......2006-02-18

The book is well written, holding my attention throughout. It was read within a week.

You won't get the truth from the "Hooverized" FBI.......2004-08-20

Excellent research into the big story of the mid-thirties that was used by the FBI to gain more power, all in the hands of one man, J. Edgar Hoover. Americans tired of sanitized & slanted history will appreciate the "What really happened" angle of this non-fiction read. Unger has done a great job filling in the blanks regarding the beginnings of the most abusive reach of power by a single American, J. Edgar Hoover, in our modern history. Without romantizing or glorifying the violence of the era, Ungers excellent research opens pages that might have been lost forever. A very good read.

Friendly Fire.......2003-08-16

This is as close as anybody's yet come to the definitive work on the Kansas City Massacre. I don't buy the popular notion--as Unger seems to--that "Pretty Boy" Floyd and Adam Richetti were the victims of a frameup. But the author's central theme, that most of the damage inflicted at the Union Station was actually done by a federal agent attempting to work an unfamiliar shotgun, is soundly based on ballistics evidence from the FBI's own files (conveniently hidden from the public for years afterward). A shocking indictment indeed of Hoover's FBI, with coverups dating all the way back to its gangbusting debut.

Not worth the trees it took to publish.......2002-10-25

This book demonstrates an incredibly simple-minded and miopic world view, shoehorning facts into a thesis to achieve the desired result.

Awesome.......2002-10-09

This book was not only historicaly accurate and well researched but also very entertaining. I highly recommend it.

Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover (Kinky Friedman Novels)

Average customer rating:

Kinky, you're great!
Offbeat enough to just hit the spot!
One-Note 'Love Song'
Amusing, Offebeat, Politically Incorrect and Entertaining
ZZZZZZZZZ!

Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover (Kinky Friedman Novels)
Kinky Friedman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0345415094
Release Date: 1997-08-26

Amazon.com

Texas musician Friedman writes mysteries the way he sings -- lots of humming, head-scratching and general fooling around. There are always plenty of cigars and an inevitable cat. But his loyal fans lap up his books and will certainly welcome this newest addition. The Kinkster's boozy reporter (is there any another kind in mystery fiction?) friend McGovern is being plagued by FBI agents disguised as aliens, so Friedman sets off on a journey of discovery to Washington and Al Capone's old Chicago haunts.

Book Description

"DEAR KINKY: I HAVE NOW READ ALL YOUR BOOKS. MORE PLEASE. I REALLY NEED THE LAUGHS."
--Bill Clinton

A beautiful woman, a missing husband, and a private eye with eyes for his comely client. It's the classic hardboiled-mystery setup. But in the grip of Kinky Friedman, expect one of the wildest, wackiest, and weirdest rides of your life!

"A novel to be read for the sheer joy of it."
-- The Baltimore Sun

Customer Reviews:

Kinky, you're great!.......2007-01-11

I read everthing that Mr. Friedman puts out and am always very amused. This book is no exception.

Offbeat enough to just hit the spot!.......2005-12-13

This is my first foray into Kinky Friedman's strange little world of cats, puppet heads, cigars and a host of strange characters. I found this book on tape to be an enjoyable bit of listening - full of odd turns of phrases and turns of events. A nice change of pace. A cleansing of the palate.

I doubt if I'll seek out Mr. Friedman's work in the future, but I'll be sure to consider it if I happen across it on Amazon.com or at my local bookseller.

One-Note 'Love Song'.......2002-02-25

You can tell that the title of Kinky Friedman's ninth novel, "The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover," hints at an educated author who is also a humorist with a flair for the politically incorrect. The title is a take-off of T.S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," and the story was written by the man who fronted a band called the Texas Jewboys and penned country songs like "Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed" and "They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore" (which is not as offensive a song as you'd think.) Obviously, Kinky Friedman is a man who is not afraid to offend. You have been warned.

Friedman's novels are the most unconventional in detective fiction. His hero is a carbon copy of himself who becomes an amateur detective after saving a woman's life during a robbery attempt at an ATM. He lives with his cat in a badly heated warehouse loft on 199B Vandam St., New York City, and surrounds himself with an unconventional set of friends like journalist Michael McGovern, who has both a drink and a chicken dish named for him, Ratso, who sometimes wears a coonskin cap complete with head and Rambam, a mercenary "wanted in states whose names begin with an I."

They're an eccentric group of friends, so when McGovern says he's seeing little green men and receives threatening phone calls from an old friend named Leaning Jesus, it's understandable why Friedman wants to avoid him, especially since he has been hired by a beautiful woman to find her missing husband. The case becomes troublesome after Friedman is caught in a narcotics raid in D.C. and a flaming limo in Chicago. His sleuthing uncovers a clue that McGovern's troubles might be connected to the missing husband.

This is not the best book in the series. Friedman seems to be going through the motions here. While first-time readers will be either enchanted or repelled by Friedman's stream-of-consciousness prose and wicked, frequently scatological wit, regular readers will sense a flagging of energy. Friedman's plots are usually simple frameworks on which he hangs his jokes, but here it becomes annoying that the story doesn't begin moving until halfway through the book. Too little is too much this time; this is one love song that strikes a sour note.

If you're still interesting in sampling Kinky's work, I would suggest his Hank Williams Jr. tribute "A Case of Lone Star," or his more recent "Roadkill," featuring Willie Nelson.

Amusing, Offebeat, Politically Incorrect and Entertaining.......2000-09-28

...I stumbled across this book on a bargain rack, and it was also my first experience reading the "Kinkster". However, I must confess that I found this novel to be well worth the couple of bucks I paid for it, and well worth my time in reading it (although it surely won't take very long, Friedman's books are a very quick and painless read).

Friedman's writing style is infectious- you either like it right from the start, or it's not for you. Virtually every page has a wisecrack and witty retort, and the author throws in references to such diverse characters as Charles Dickens, Tom Bodet (of Motel 6 fame), Martin Luther King, J. Edgar Hoover and mass murderer John Wayne Gacy. No topic is off-limits. The narrator lives in a 4th floor apartment in NYC, and a lesbian dance instructor lives over him. He mentions, as he goes through the papers of a missing man, that one check stood out "like a Jew with an antfarm." Friedman pokes fun of everyone, but in a playful and witty manner that I really enjoyed.

The novel's main storyline revolved around a missing person, the husband of Kinky's client, as well as a secondary theme involving suspicious characters that seem to be following Kinky's Irish journalist friend McGovern. I am unfamiliar with the author's prior works, but I understand that many of his usual cast of characters are here, as well as the habits and style that have made his loyal fans look forward to Friedman's annual novel.

I should add a word or two about the rating, since I gave the book 4 stars yet I certainly don't think Friedman is a better novelist than say John Irving or Howard Norman, whose books I have given 3 stars. I think you have to judge a book like this in the context of his genre, and for those looking for a witty mystery novel with an occasional unexpected plot twist, interspersed with humor and biting sarcasm, I think this book ranks up there with similar novels by Carl Hiassen.

ZZZZZZZZZ!.......1998-06-19

Admitedly this is my first Friedman book and I bought it because it was in the bargain bin for $1.96 and I've heard of him. Maybe his books are an acquired taste, but I think I got about $1.93 of my money's worth. Yes, the author can ramble and rant and turn a phrase with the best writers, but the whole "mystery" turns into a red herring and leaving me with a big "huh?" on my face. A lot of comments on everything around the wry detective with what little plot there was used as an excuse to pontificate some more. Sorry, fans. I can read Dennis Miller's comedy rants in book form or, better yet, watch him on HBO. No need for "the Kinkster" in my life but at least I gave it a shot. Perhaps his other books are better.

The Bureau: My thirty years in Hoover's FBI

Average customer rating:

The Bureau: My thirty years in Hoover's FBI
William C Sullivan
Manufacturer: Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 0393012360

PUPPETMASTER: THE SECRET LIFE OF J. EDGAR HOOVER

Average customer rating:

An insider view
Good book!
absolute power . . .
An Unscrupulous Way To Stay In Power
Where's the Beef!

PUPPETMASTER: THE SECRET LIFE OF J. EDGAR HOOVER
Richard Hack
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets
It's Not about Me Journal
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ASIN: B000FVQV98

Customer Reviews:

An insider view.......2007-01-12

None of these reviewers seem to have been in the circus. No mention of Judge Williaml Webster in 1950 in Hack's book. Surprise that JE was friendly to Robert Kennedy and the others in that clan, other accounts had it that they did not work together well. Hack's book id a sort of aerial view of Mr.Hoover's career.

Good book!.......2007-01-11

This book was exactly what I wanted...to learn about J. Edgar Hoover's life. It was interesting!

absolute power . . ........2004-12-23

I knew nothing about Hoover before reading this book, but Hack does a comprehensive job in this bio. Hoover is portrayed as a higly intelligent, organized man, who had too much power for his (or the country's) good.

Hoover's need for fame was a double edged sword: It helped promote the FBI and it's intentions, but it also put public image over real substance. The most interesting parts of the book were Hoover tracking down old-time mobsters, and his obsession with Martin Luther King Jr. and his ties to the communist party.

The biggest problems with the book were lack of technical details (Hack throughout mentions illegal wire taps and "black bag jobs", but never goes into details of how they were implemented), and apparent embellishment of the truth. For example, Hack goes into detail in converstaions between 2 people which there are no sources for. This is confusing and detracts from the overall authenticity of the book.

Overall, this was a great book to learn about this unusual leader. I think it paints a farily balanced picture of him, not as an evil man, but of a smart control freak and media hound that was given too much power for too long.

An Unscrupulous Way To Stay In Power.......2004-09-23

Richard Hack has written a biography that really doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know about J. Edgar Hoover, a strange man who headed the F.B.I. for several decades. Hoover kept files on the skeletons in the closet, both real and imagined, on people whose behavior he wanted to control. Hoover used this blackmail to remain in office throughout the changes in the political climate in Washington. His idea of a good read would be to remain home and sift through the files of various individuals and entertain himself with the perceived weaknesses of others. The man who had files on so many people should have had a file himself. Perhaps it gave him comfort to know others had problems that he had a difficult time facing in himself. He was a glory hunter who wanted the credit to go to him in highly publicized cases such as the cases of John Dillinger and "Baby Face" Nelson. Hoover didn't like the publicity Melvin Purvis got in the Dillinger case, so he had him eventually removed from the F.B.I. Hoover also didn't want to admit to the existence of the mafia. Perhaps he wanted to concentrate on two bit gangsters rather than accept the challenge of organized crime. It's scary to think the F.B.I. had such a strange man at the helm for so many years. The improvements made during his tenure could certainly have been made by someone else during all these years.

Where's the Beef!.......2004-07-09

Richard Hack's book, "Puppetmaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover", is well documented, concise, and well presented, but I had to ask myself "where's the beef". There is simply nothing new in this biography of America's number one policeman. The book is 407 pages long. I read to page 357 and finally had to put it down for keeps - there was simply nothing new in this book to entice me to keep reading. The book is well suited for individuals that have very little to no knowledge of the life of J. Edgar Hoover.

I must admit that I was surprised by what I did not find in this new book on Hoover's life. Hoover has always been referred to as the "keeper of secrets". I would have thought that with so many reputed secrets, Richard Hack would have uncovered something new, never-presented material, but such was not the case with Hack's book. I look forward to the day when some of Hoover's well kept secrets are uncovered and brought to life in a new book. But until then there are no new discoveries to be found in "Puppetmaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover". I would like to recommend Curt Centry's book, J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets as an alternative to "Puppetmaster".

J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets

Average customer rating:

Barbara Tuchman would be proud...
the most powerful man in 20th century america
A masterpiece of careful documentation
A thoroughly detailed, fascinating, and shocking account of a complex man
Leave history to historians...

J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets
Curt Gentry
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393321282

Book Description

Shocking, grim, frightening, Curt Gentry's masterful portrait of America's top policeman is a unique political biography. From more than 300 interviews and over 100,000 pages of previously classified documents, Gentry reveals exactly how a paranoid director created the fraudulent myth of an invincible, incorruptible FBI. For almost fifty years, Hoover held virtually unchecked public power, manipulating every president from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Richard Nixon. He kept extensive blackmail files and used illegal wiretaps and hidden microphones to destroy anyone who opposed him. The book reveals how Hoover helped create McCarthyism, blackmailed the Kennedy brothers, and influenced the Supreme Court; how he retarded the civil rights movement and forged connections with mobsters; and what part he played in the investigations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. A New York Times bestseller. 32 pages of photographs.

Customer Reviews:

Barbara Tuchman would be proud..........2007-05-27

Fifteen years in the making, "J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets" is a long, intricate, dense, but ultimately rewarding read. There are occasional minor lapses like misspellings, date typos, Congressmen misidentified as Senators, etc., as well as names dropping in and out of the narrative which require frequent use of the index to refresh one's memory, but it's all to be expected in a work of such amazing depth and scope. I first read this book shortly after its original publication in 1991, and have found myself frequently referring back to it ever since - it's what I consider a great "gateway book," as its exhaustive bibliography covers virtually all facets of American history and political life over most of the past century. And its lessons remain relevant even today, particularly in light of the Bush Administration dusting off Nixon's infamous Huston Plan in the aftermath of 9/11 and very nearly setting off a palace revolt within the Justice Department as a result. The story of Hoover's final years is all the more compelling now given the more recent revelation of former FBI Deputy Associate Director W. Mark Felt as Bob Woodward's famous Watergate source, "Deep Throat." Felt's current state of both physical and mental frailty, as documented in Woodward's "The Secret Man," means that Gentry's work may well be the clearest available view of what led one of the Bureau's highest officials to guide a young reporter through the opening acts of a story that would bring down the President. And Gentry ably captures the atmosphere of Washington at a time when the famed FBI Director could still cast a long shadow over events that transpired both outside his Bureau and after his death.

"J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets" is the story of a consummate functionary and master of bureaucratic survival, whose reputation was destroyed by his own prejudices and paranoia in much the same fashion as the last President he "served". It's a cautionary tale about the perils of investing too much power in government, and the personal toll upon the wielders of that power and those who would aspire to it. It's a story of how praiseworthy accomplishments in Hoover's early career were ultimately overshadowed by his petty vindictiveness, which bordered on the childish, and his pathological aversion to sharing the limelight. It's a story of how these character flaws ended up costing lives, including several FBI agents like Melvin Purvis, whose successes in cracking high-profile cases did more for the glory-hungry Director's reputation than for their own advancement. It's a story about the limitations of power, and how one of the most respected (and feared) government agencies either completely missed or failed to stop changes in society at large, whether by expending vast resources on a nonexistent communist threat while ignoring the growing power and reach of organized crime, or unsuccessfully attempting to sabotage the Civil Rights movement. It's a story of hypocrisy and self-delusion, not only of Hoover but of politicians like McCarthy, Johnson, Nixon, and others who tried to use Hoover's secrets for their own ends. And finally, it's the story of literally decades of activities that made a mockery of the Bureau's widely-proclaimed founding principles of Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity.

Curt Gentry does a commendable job of maintaining scholarly detachment while recounting details, whether gory or erotic, from the famous cases and (mostly illegal) surveillances that formed the basis of Hoover's power. Drawing from these, plus White House tapes from two different administrations and extensive source interviews, Gentry paints a warts-and-all portrait not only of Hoover, but of many other famous people (heroic and otherwise). There's the origin of the urban legend concerning Dillinger's anatomy. There's President Truman earning Hoover's eternal ire by correcting him on a matter of Scripture. There are snide remarks galore - from FDR about Eleanor, Bobby Kennedy about Associate FBI Director Clyde Tolson, Nixon and Haldeman about Hoover, and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s locker-room joke about Jackie. There's JFK's penchant for amphetamines, and convincing evidence that this was one thing Kennedy and Hoover had in common. Gentry recounts Hoover's pique at being victimized by the Bureau's own tactics when reporters like Jack Anderson dared to circumvent the FBI propaganda machine with dumpster diving and "black bag jobs" of their own. Watergate cognoscenti will appreciate Attorney General John Mitchell's off-the-cuff reference to "programming Liddy," as well as Mitchell's unforgettable wife Martha, who sang Hoover's praises with "...if you've seen one FBI Director you've seen them all," followed by, "John tells me he's never worked for a nicer fellow." And Gentry manages to address, without sensationalizing, the persistent rumors of a homosexual relationship between Hoover and Tolson; a perfectly fair subject given Hoover's penchant for sexual slander and Tolson's spectacular ascent through the hidebound bureaucracy that Hoover himself designed.

The book begins and ends with the events surrounding Hoover's death in the Spring of 1972, some six weeks prior to the Watergate break-in. The first telling presents the passing of the nation's most famous unelected public servant in its more "official" version; the second is colored by the sordid history behind a carefully-engineered facade that had already begun to crumble. Included are Nixon's recollections of his own failed attempts to fire Hoover - military history buffs familiar with Guderian's memoir, "Panzer Leader," will recognize a familiar pattern to the conversations. For J. Edgar Hoover, like both Hitler and Stalin, was a master of political and media manipulation who ultimately failed to live up to his own image, and it's no small irony that a man lodged within the bureaucracy of a supposedly free society could outlast both dictators by a substantial margin. But no matter what one thinks of the Director's tenure and legacy, Curt Gentry has succeeded admirably in providing a thorough, and possibly even definitive, examination of a significant figure in American history.

the most powerful man in 20th century america.......2007-04-02

i decided to read about hoover after the debate began on the patriot act and its impingement of our civil rights. Was it really a change from yesteryear? how bad were the intrusions? after reading the amazon reviews, i selected this book over others.

it is a well detailed history of j edgar hoover and his over 50 years as head of the fbi. the book is well documented with footnotes, source notes, and bibliography. the biography is told fairly objectively. i was glad to see the author didn't spend hardly any time on the cross dressing/homosexuality rumors that run rampant. it is not to say they are not correct, only that they are unproven. that means the author stuck to the facts he had, not the salacious history it could be. for that i appreciate the integrity of the historical perspective that the author portrays. i feel i have the true story on what he presents, and that is what i look for in a political biogrphy.

with all that said, this book is an eye opener. the power that this man held was unbelievable. the lives, both innocent and guilty, that he destroyed innumerable. the tactics disgusting and terrifying. Simply put it could have been almost anyone.

does it change the debate? i don't think so. even with his scum tactics, he did not prevent dr martin luther king from changing the world. the question still stands. should we be prepared to give up some of our civil rights to assist in the pursuit of those who threaten us? will there be abuse? of course. but that doesn't make the interests of the whole less than the interests of the few. the problem with hoover was the duration of his control. had presidents had the will to risk their careers and fire what they knew to be a problem, it would not have become systemic as it did.

very good book of a dark side of our history.

A masterpiece of careful documentation.......2006-03-13

In the context of recent concerns about spying on Americans by the Executive Branch of government, it is timely to re-read this classic biography. Gentry skips sensationalism and scandal, but his carefully detailed portrait shows a nasty, bigotted old man who happily chiselled his employer.

So how did Hoover remain in power for half a century? Simply put, he had a file on everyone. And he wasn't afraid of using his minions to imply the threat of blackmail.

There's little evidence of active homosexuality by Hoover, indeed labelling someone a "fag" seems to have been his biggest threat. However, here we have a many who lived with his mother until his mid-40's, whose "Associate Director" was his daily companion whose adult sexuality at best could be called retarded.

Gentry's indictment of Hoover does not avoid his few good qualities -- he was a hard worker and an efficient administrator. The notes and footnotes are extensive, but do not interfere with a page-turning narrative for those who want to go quickly. In sum, it amounts to a crashing indictment of a man whose name does not deserve to be on a government building.

A thoroughly detailed, fascinating, and shocking account of a complex man.......2006-03-01

A fascinating and comprehensive look at a complex, powerful, and manipulative man. Gentry brings to life the power that Hoover held, power bestowed on him by virtue of the secrets he held in the massive volumes of FBI files he collected over his 48 year tenure.

Hoover's far reach and influence are stunning. Most people probably have a cursory idea of Hoover's god-like legacy, but Gentry brings out the jaw dropping, scandalous details in vivid candor. Hoover had leverage over his superiors - the president and the attorney general - as well as his subordinates, Congress, Hollywood, local police jurisdictions, and civil rights leaders. His sway only increased with every year his held his office.

Gentry's account is exhaustively researched and probably the most extensive and authoritative history of Hoover in existence. He delves into the paradox that Hoover was, a rigid, aggravating, unlikeable, and deeply vindictive man to many, yet to a few close associates, he was engaging and affable, if not warm, and to him they were 100% loyal.

Hoover was no doubt a product of his time. For the calculating personality he possessed, who could ask for better career advancement opportunities than to serve in a time of the depression, bootleggers, gansters, the mafia, the Communist red scare, and the Kennedy assasinations successively. All during Hoover's time at the FBI, there was a valid argument to be made that he was simply indispensible. The desire of many in government to end his tenure was thwarted time after time, almost to a comical degree. Hoover was saved by the skin of his teeth more than once by fortuitous turns of events.

Beyond just Hoover, this book explores the dark side of politics in general. The horse trading, the double dealing, the secret deals, the blacklisting, blackmailing, break-ins, cover-ups, set-ups, take-downs, paybacks, payoffs, and the vindictiveness. It's ugly, ugly work. Most would have no idea their own government operates in such a shameful, despicable manner.

Gentry writes in an engaging narrative style that's easy to read and compelling. The book is well paced and very cohesive despite covering a wide time period and a diverse range of incidents. The book is lengthy and comprehensive. It does not skimp on details. I'm hard pressed to imagine a more thorough account.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in this period of contemporary American history or the fascinating personality that was J. Edgar Hoover.

Leave history to historians..........2006-01-13

I didn't read the book. I was looking for a serious biography of Hoover, after seeing Oliver Stone's primitive representation of a dark perverted homosexual in "Nixon". I thought : "well, it's 2006, this should be a serious object for research now". Looks like I'm wrong. The cover quotes Newsweek: "Eleanor Roosevelt was right. Hoover's FBI was American's Gestapo." Well, this is appalling. I know that Eleanor was a Gestapo specialist, as I know Newsweek is a well-documented contemporary history magazine. I mean, those are the ones you should trust when you look for information either on Gestapo, or Hoover. It means the FBI/Hoover deported Jews and tortured thousands of people, doesn't it ? Do I get the information right ? I just don't get it: either there's no serious american historians of the 20th american history main characters ; or there is a liberal new order of things on such publications. Maybe there's another possibility, just tell me what's wrong here. Please.

The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientist

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Shockingly Relevant Today
More than a theory
Unusual suspects

The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientist
Fred Jerome
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312316097

Amazon.com

From 1933 until 1955, the Federal Bureau of Investigation compiled a 2,000-page file on Albert Einstein, hoping to "destroy" his immense stature by linking him to Soviet espionage activities. At one point, not long before the scientist's death, a serious attempt was made to have him deported. This alarming campaign--responsible in large part for Einstein's exclusion from the Manhattan Project--is the subject of Fred Jerome's The Einstein File. Einstein's disloyalty, in the FBI's view, was clearly evidenced by his adamant political stances. He was a socialist, a pacifist (though he advocated war with Germany), and an outspoken foe of McCarthyism, nuclear war, and racism. Jerome's skillful narrative weaves the file's hateful (and often ludicrously inaccurate) entries with American political history, creating an invaluable context for both Einstein's views and the FBI's actions. Further, Jerome points to the more recent "sanitizing" of Einstein, from angry activist to "genial, absent-minded professor." This is a fascinating, compelling tale, one that reads like the strangest of fictions. --H. O'Billovich

Book Description

From the legendary physicist's arrival in America in 1933 until his death in 1955, Hoover's FBI-with help from several other federal agencies-made an all-out attempt to undermine Albert Einstein's influence and destroy his prestige. In this fascinating book, Fred Jerome tells the story of that smear campaign, and the reasons behind it-Einstein's convictions as a pacifist, socialist, internationalist, and denouncer of racism. Deftly weaving information from Einstein's recently declassified 2,000-plus-page FBI file with historical details of the period, The Einstein File offers the first detailed picture of Einstein's moral and political views, as well as a damning portrait of those who tried to punish him for them.

Customer Reviews:

Shockingly Relevant Today.......2006-02-10

This is a must read book for many reasons. We have allowed J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy's abuses of power to slip quietly into fuzzy memory. We have failed to learn from history and are now condemned to repeat it.

Einstein emerges in this book as far more than a smart mathematician. He was a good and wise man. That so much of our government's power was engaged in an effort to discredit him is frightening.

Einstein experienced the Nazi's rise to power first hand. He could see the similarities between their anti-Semitism and our own racism. He had seen the Nazis attack the Communists and quash dissent. Einstein was a long time Pacifist, but he supported the war against the Nazis, even to the point of suggesting to FDR that we develop the Atomic Bomb before Hitler could.

Einstein was never a Communist. He valued his freedom of thought and expression too much. He saw how dangerous narrow nationalism could be and that it could threaten democracy. Einstein and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt were strong supporters of the United Nations and Human Rights. This earned both extensive FBI files, along with Martin Luther King Jr., whose Civil Rights efforts were also seen as a threat by Hoover.

After World War II, Nazis were eagerly embraced as anti-Communists and recruited into the growing "intelligence community". Einstein, an avowed Socialist, was feared to be, if not actually "Red" at least "Pink", and not to be trusted. If he had not been so well known and loved, he would surely have been stripped of his citizenship and deported. Hoover certainly tried. Fortunately for Einstein, there was no real evidence at all against him, just allegations from completely unreliable sources, innuendo and irrational fear.

Today, the flames of irrational fear are again being fanned in our country. Fear is again being used to justify injustice and erode our civil liberties. Everyone should read this book, and take it as a warning.

More than a theory.......2002-11-11

The Einstein File by Fred Jerome, quickly dispels the poplar image
of Albert Einstein as an absentminded, head-in-the-clouds-genius.

Though Einstein is arguably the most widely covered, continuing
science story in history and is most noted for his scientific
theories that transformed our view of the universe. This book
chronicles the life of an Einstein that the masses knew nothing
about. An Einstein described as a troublemaker, an agitator, a
fervent pacifist, a socialist, and an open critic of racism.

Einstein arrived in the United States in 1933, the year of
the Nazi's ascent to power in Germany, and became the focus of
J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. And by any means necessary the FBI amassed
a 'file cabinet' of information on him. Fred Jerome stumbled on
documents that addressed Einstein as a Spy and a Kidnap Plotter.
And a dossier where Jerome discovered the political dimension of
Albert Einstein's life and his intense commitment to social justice.

Jerome says when he realized how much had not been told to us about
the life of the 'Man of the Century', he felt as though he had been
robbed. This is not another biography of Einstein, some two hundred
have already been written. It is a window opened by the FBI on the
nature of Einstein's politics, the depth of his public involvement,
and the generosity of his endorsements of organizations he supported.
And it is this activism that made Hoover's Bureau consider Einstein

dangerous. This book reveals information that makes one think the
history we know is sanitized, and what we don't know is at times
appalling. It talks of a 'list' maintained by the FBI on celebrities,
political figures and anyone thought to have affiliatiions with the
Communist Party. It underscores the dangers that can arise, and the
rule of law that exists in times of obsession with national security.
And it creates questions on where the line should be drawn on the issue
of an invasion of privacy. This one will make you take a seat.

Reviewed by aNN Brown

Unusual suspects.......2002-07-15

Einstein was a troublemaker, the author informs us at the beginning of this book detailing, armed with the 1800 pages of files released by the FOIA, with Hoover's Albert-paranoia in action, aimed at the great scientist, especially in the years of the Red Scare, McCarthyism, and the Cold War. The public image of the greatest scientist of the twentieth century has been carefully manicured, but behind the teddy bear was a determined activist on many fronts, who fell afoul of not only the Nazis, but of the FBI. Einstein's valiant stands on social justice, racism, antisemitism, war, peace, and the Bomb barely enter public consciousness through the layers of the myth. The record of Hoover's manipulations and skullduggeries is almost pathetic in its pickiun character, next also to its bungling and misinformation. It is, for example, discouraging to watch how Einstein is deprived of security clearance, lest a man with such a reputation and global popularity be, we suspect the motive, able to influence or speak out from the inside on the use of the first atom bomb. The portrait left of the reactionary and racist Hoover at the head of a critical institution pursuing this biased and incomprehending agenda is nothing less than appalling. The portrait of Einstein's deep social concerns (read a triffle 'leftist') in action is the real man, please.

The Last Crusade: Martin Luther King Jr., the FBI, and the Poor People's Campaign

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The Last Crusade: Martin Luther King Jr., the FBI, and the Poor People's Campaign
Gerald D. McKnight , Fbi , and Poor People's Campaign
Manufacturer: Westview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0813333849

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