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J. Edgar Hoover: The Man And The Secrets (2001)

J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets (2001)

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Rating
3.7 of 5 Votes: 4
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ISBN
0393321282 (ISBN13: 9780393321289)
Language
English
Publisher
w. w. norton & company

About book J. Edgar Hoover: The Man And The Secrets (2001)

A detailed and scathing history of J. Edgar Hoover and his bureau. Seldom in American history has an unelected official so dominated and influenced the trajectory of the United States.As suggested above, the F.B.I. and Hoover we’re one and the same thing. And when Hoover wanted his organization to do something, it got done: if there were communists they were to be persecuted; if organized crime didn’t exist, let’s just arrest more communists, civil rights workers…Mr. Gentry provides a multitude of examples over the decades of the nefarious activities of the F.B.I. Hoover made everything personal – any individual who aggravated him was added to his enormous files. These files contained any innuendo on the person - particularly sexual activities, membership in a suspected organization, and drinking habits. In other words a government organization, financed by the tax-payer, that was supposedly investigating criminal activities, was using its resources to stockpile malicious gossip. As the author states, they did, at times, pursue legitimate criminals like Dillinger and eventually, after considerable prompting by Congress, went after organized crime. They also relentlessly and criminally persecuted Martin Luther King.Mr. Gentry gives us the relationship that Hoover had with each of the Presidents and how they tried to circumvent each other. Hoover always managed to maintain his reign as director and acquire more and more funds. He used his ever-expanding filing system to manage (blackmail) Senators and Congressmen to provide this money.This is a compete biography of the man and how he developed the F.B.I. – and more importantly how he came to influence, maintain and use his power over the American people. Sadly he imposed his 19th century view of the world on many people who trusted and believed in him. Hoover was Machiavelli in action – he wielded power like a virtuoso during his 48 years as director.Of course Mr. Gentry busts the myth of Hoover’s image as a positive force in U.S. history. We are presented with a man who is intolerant of any view opposed to his own, and a man not to be trifled with - a prime manipulator.One favourite quote (from page 711 of my edition): One of J. Edgar Hoover’s fabled Ten Commandments was “thou shalt have no other Directors before me”.

Personally, I LOVED this book, but I would not recommend it if you're looking for something quick and dirty because it is not a cheap and tawdry or gossipy kind of peek at peccadilloes. That kind of stuff is not why I chose this book, and in fact, I've avoided reading the ones that make tittilation the focus.First and foremost, you have to read this book through the end. Reading it slowly was a plus. I found myself often going to the internet to get a brief look at topics the author had fleshed out in his writing. Second, the subject matter was frightening, and as the author as pointed out in an epilogue, it's probably still continuing today. As much as I hate to say it, and even more, hate to admit it, the FBI, at least during J Edgar Hoover's term in office (not just according to this author, but to others who've also done copious amounts of research) functioned much as any other government's secret state police did in many areas. I find it appalling that one man and under his stewardship, one organization, could produce such an atmosphere of fear that he had presidents, congressmen, senators, investigation committees and anyone else connected with government afraid to do their jobs. Everyone and anyone even remotely connected with politicians could have been an FBI informant at any time. I tell you, this book really scared me -- American civil liberties were being violated left and right under this man's direction. J. Edgar is one of my favorite topics for non-fiction reading for this very reason. How one man in what is supposed to be a government by the people and for the people could amass so much power and create such an atmosphere is downright amazing. Call me naive, okay? I'm sure this crap is still going on at some level.I very highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic, although as I mentioned, it is a bit of a tough read, not just in terms of subject matter, but in the sheer volume of material. And I have to say, frankly, that I'm more worried about what the author didn't find.

Do You like book J. Edgar Hoover: The Man And The Secrets (2001)?

Curt Gentry's biography of the FBI's first and longest-tenured director reads like one of Hoover's famously lengthy memos - a bloated chore. While well researched, Gentry shows little affection for the lay reader, introducing voluminous casts of characters that pop up periodically without warning or explanation, requiring frequent page-turning for those not well-versed in the history of the Bureau - or the federal government for that matter - from the years 1925-1990. What begins as great promise for an in-depth look at the secretive life of the much-maligned founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation quickly becomes what's known among journalists as "notebook dump." Gentry's work is little more than 700 pages of extremely well-researched fodder slapped together in what can only be called an incoherent narrative that reads as an overlong expose without substance.I may be a bit too hard on the book, which was published in 1991 and likely shocked many of those still reeled in by Hoover's cult of personality as something of an American folk hero, but little of what I read in Gentry's work surprised me or changed the way I felt about the man or the agency he created. An almost deplorable lack of information on Hoover's early life, before a career in the federal government gripped him, is present - unfortunate because it is the most compelling content for the casually interested reader (such as myself) and ends far too quickly, but teases them to continue on.That is how I would describe my experience with "The Man and the Secrets": three days of very entertaining reading followed by a month of bureaucratic memoranda regurgitation. Gentry provides a great history, but for those wanting more the book reads hollow. Another edit, with an eye for narrative flow, would have benefitted the text greatly.
—Kip

Holy moly.First of all, it took me a month to read this book. I picked it up after I saw the movie J. Edgar, with Leonardo Dicaprio, and wondered how historically accurate the movie was. I also realized that while my education taught me a lot about the American Revolution, the Civil War, and tons of European history, it was woefully inadequate when it comes to recent US history.Also, there were several reasons it took so long, besides the fact that it's 700+ pages long.The author spent 15 years writing this book and it is meticulously researched. The amount of info in the text is mindblowing. There are also a lot of people, and sometimes I would lose track of who someone was and have to backtrack to remind myself. It's also heavily footnoted, which slowed me down.The government really loves its initials too. FBI, CIA, OSS, HUAC, ABC, XYZ...again I frequently had to backtrack to remember what a particular agency or committee was all about. And having never heard the expression "feet of clay" before, sometimes I had to look things up.I also, like many reviewers, would put the book aside to do further reading on topics covered very minimally in the book.Like many reviewers, I found this book to be slightly one sided. It's obvious Gentry has a deep dislike for Hoover. I'm not convinced that his attitiude is unwarranted--Hoover was a frightening man. (As a side note, I'm sure Hoover is spinning in his grave these days. It's entertaining to wonder what he would make of Bill Clinton, Elliot Spitzer et al, gay marriage, 9/11 or Cindy Sheehan.)All in all, I really really enjoyed it.
—Kayris

Lengthy bio on this most complicated man. Gentry relates Hoover's beginnings to his ascent and eventual dominance of the F.B.I.. The numerous characters that surrounded Hoover's life are considerably featured: Dillinger, Eleanor Roosevelt, the Rosenbergs, Joseph McCarthy, the Kennedys, etc.. The author reveals the many-faceted sides of Hoover's personality, from ardent patriot and founder of the modern F.B.I. to a vindictive and malignant control-freak responsible for the ruination of numerous individuals and proponent of notorious activities like COINTELPRO. He also doesn't shy away from the Director's personal life, discussing controversies like Hoover's relationship with celebrities, his paranoia, and his alleged homosexuality. Despite the author's obvious bias against his subject (if Hoover was as completely bad as Gentry makes him out to be, then why does the F.B.I. still exist?) the title is one of the best books on the man.
—Takipsilim

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