A New York Times–bestselling author’s revealing, “important” biography of the longtime FBI director (The Philadelphia Inquirer). No one exemplified paranoia and secrecy at the heart of American power better than J. Edgar Hoover, the original director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. For this consummate biography, renowned investigative journalist Anthony Summers interviewed more than eight … Summers interviewed more than eight hundred witnesses and pored through thousands of documents to get at the truth about the man who headed the FBI for fifty years, persecuted political enemies, blackmailed politicians, and lived his own surprising secret life. Ultimately, Summers paints a portrait of a fatally flawed individual who should never have held such power, and for so long.
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Very well researched, build the FBI into a great origination but should have been replaced buy Truman.
Interesting at the beginning but becomes repeatitive.
I couldn’t get past the forward of this piece of biased nonsense. It was painfully obvious from the beginning that this was nothing but a character slamming, one sided highly prejudicial waste of time.
I wish I’d had this when I went to “Boys’ State” in 1962. We visited the South Carolina Capitol, and one day one of our sessions were held in the Congressional Amphitheater. On each seat were two books, J. Edgar Hoover’s “Masters of Deceit” and Barry Goldwater’s “Conscience of a Conservative.” Do you think there was any brain washing being …
I was amazed what an evil man he was
Things that you have heard about Hoover were explained in detail. Historically, not a nice person if he thought someone was trying to break a rule, and his rules were unreal. He threatened many important people. He actually used blackmail on government leaders and was hated by many.
Excellent, informative read.
Very informative. Scary to
read about a man who had so much power in Washington and did influence people’s success or failure,
A lousy bio. All rumors are presented as facts, no matter how outlandish. A $1.99 poorly spent.
It was OK Not my type of bio. Did not care for the type of information given. Maybe because Hoover was a big figure in my teen and young adult years. He did a great job of eliminating mob activity, then all news was positive unlike today with their lies.
Frightening to think of so much power being in the hands of one person, especially one so unfit for holding it. Excellent read.
Negative view of J Edgar. Very readable, but did Hoover really wear dresses?
Very Good Read; would recommend to anyone. Unbelievable account of one man’s megalomania; not unlike Trump. King J. Edgar Hoover wasn’t a wannabe. What was most striking was not the allegations of homosexuality but due to turf wars with British Intelligence he may have allowed the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
This book is the tell all of a famous American and all of his dirty, underhanded dealings.
Eye-opening even after knowing that he was corrupt.
Not as revealing as expected
J Edgar Hoover was a twisted and terrible man who blackmailed 8 presidents. It is unsettling to know that men in power had so much to hide. “There is no one righteous; no not one.”
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This book is just one more reason, at least for me, not to trust anyone’s outward persona. You can never, ever know a person’s true self. Everyone has an agenda. People are packaged by the media and the government like any other product to be sold to a gullible public.