Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J Edgar Hoover
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The book is more exciting, and more damning, than the film...This is bold, excoriating, unmissable stuff.
--Independent on Sunday
--Independent on Sunday
Book Description
The sensational and definitive account of America's most celebrated FBI Director who is now the subject of major Hollywood film J Edgar starring Leonardo DiCaprio
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Official and Confidential is another addition to Anthony Summers' superb books about the seamy underbelly of United States twentieth century politics. Whereas this Oxford-educated historian's other books have looked in great detail at the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the life of President Richard M. Nixon, Official and Confidential exposes the murky life and times of Federal Bureau of Investigation chief J. Edgar Hoover.
What Summers' finds is truly incredible - a racist with possibly black ancestry, a homophobe who was a transvestite homosexual, a man who held the highest judicial office in the land but had a strong relationship with the Mafia, a life of deception and bullying, the ultimate behind-the-scenes King-maker, who used the FBI to build up numerous blackmail files on politicians, especially prospective presidential candidates; further to this, Hoover quite probably played a key role in the murder of Jack Kennedy (or at the very least, turned a blind eye to the events).
Summers' writing, as with all of his books, is clear and illuminating. He depicts a full life and decades of intricate politicking and blackmail, without ever losing the reader in a morass of names and dates. His arguments for Hoover's deep corruption are convincing and his sources are clear. Similar to his biography of Nixon, when reading Official and Confidential, there is a sense of, "He surely can't have been this bad and gotten away with it?" but Summers' makes his case simply by spelling out the unpleasant facts.
For those who enjoy an eye-opening biography, this book is a great read; characters such as Dwight Eisenhower and Bobby Kennedy enter the story, events such as the deaths of John Dillinger and Marilyn Monroe feature and the Mafia, of course, feature significantly. The book also works because of Summers' eye for the little details, such as the FBI agents nervously waiting outside Hoover's office, frantically wiping the sweat from their palms, as Hoover has a loathing of it and such an occurrence could jeopardise an agent's career.
This is another great book from Anthony Summers; once again he has really done his homework better than most. This book reveals a character who had tremendous influence over twentieth century U.S. politics and as such, this book sheds a revealing light on the deep political structure of the U.S. establishment. That the FBI's head office is still named after Hoover must be something of a perverse joke...
What Summers' finds is truly incredible - a racist with possibly black ancestry, a homophobe who was a transvestite homosexual, a man who held the highest judicial office in the land but had a strong relationship with the Mafia, a life of deception and bullying, the ultimate behind-the-scenes King-maker, who used the FBI to build up numerous blackmail files on politicians, especially prospective presidential candidates; further to this, Hoover quite probably played a key role in the murder of Jack Kennedy (or at the very least, turned a blind eye to the events).
Summers' writing, as with all of his books, is clear and illuminating. He depicts a full life and decades of intricate politicking and blackmail, without ever losing the reader in a morass of names and dates. His arguments for Hoover's deep corruption are convincing and his sources are clear. Similar to his biography of Nixon, when reading Official and Confidential, there is a sense of, "He surely can't have been this bad and gotten away with it?" but Summers' makes his case simply by spelling out the unpleasant facts.
For those who enjoy an eye-opening biography, this book is a great read; characters such as Dwight Eisenhower and Bobby Kennedy enter the story, events such as the deaths of John Dillinger and Marilyn Monroe feature and the Mafia, of course, feature significantly. The book also works because of Summers' eye for the little details, such as the FBI agents nervously waiting outside Hoover's office, frantically wiping the sweat from their palms, as Hoover has a loathing of it and such an occurrence could jeopardise an agent's career.
This is another great book from Anthony Summers; once again he has really done his homework better than most. This book reveals a character who had tremendous influence over twentieth century U.S. politics and as such, this book sheds a revealing light on the deep political structure of the U.S. establishment. That the FBI's head office is still named after Hoover must be something of a perverse joke...
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This was a great read until almost the final page. The author takes the reader back through the life of this American icon and collates facts which, until recently, were either unknown or simply gossipped about in the odd documentary or article: Hoover as, almost certainly, a transvestite gay, who lived with a long term companion (officially an FBI officer on the payroll) and as a chief of secret police (by any other name) whose main stock in trade was collecting the dirt on possible threats to his position. This latter is certainly a trait of all top secret police people (examples might include Beria, Himmler and Bormann, the last not exactly a secret policeman but a hybrid).
The book goes through Hoover's career and makes the point that he did not, contrary to popular belief, found the F.B.I. at all, that he investigated those whose arrest would make good publicity, that he neglected to chase those criminals who were in the background, like the Mafia (whose chiefs had plenty of information about Hoover's own peccadilloes) etc. There are also interesting bits about the Kennedy assassination and about the WW2 spy Popov (see his own book Spy Counter Spy).
I thought the book very good indeed, weakened really only by the very end, where an attempt is made to diagnose Hoover retrospectively via various experts in psychiatric disorders. That weakened the book, not least because the conclusion, typical of psychiatry (?) is that Hoover was a paranoiac, also a sociopath, also a sexual deviant, etc...no real conclusion.
Well worth reading and a salutary lesson in the old tale of how power corrupts, though the author does make the point (not very strongly, though) that the organization Hoover created did and does have strong suits, particularly in the technical aspects of its work. The F.B.I. has had many many successes to place against its failures.
The book goes through Hoover's career and makes the point that he did not, contrary to popular belief, found the F.B.I. at all, that he investigated those whose arrest would make good publicity, that he neglected to chase those criminals who were in the background, like the Mafia (whose chiefs had plenty of information about Hoover's own peccadilloes) etc. There are also interesting bits about the Kennedy assassination and about the WW2 spy Popov (see his own book Spy Counter Spy).
I thought the book very good indeed, weakened really only by the very end, where an attempt is made to diagnose Hoover retrospectively via various experts in psychiatric disorders. That weakened the book, not least because the conclusion, typical of psychiatry (?) is that Hoover was a paranoiac, also a sociopath, also a sexual deviant, etc...no real conclusion.
Well worth reading and a salutary lesson in the old tale of how power corrupts, though the author does make the point (not very strongly, though) that the organization Hoover created did and does have strong suits, particularly in the technical aspects of its work. The F.B.I. has had many many successes to place against its failures.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
When this book came out, a lot was made of the sexual side of this man, that Anthony Summers found out Hoover was a cross dresser, a homosexual. Yet the critics missed the main point of the book which is to show just how corrupt this man was, how he thought he was untouchable, his Mafia links, how he held the files on every American who mattered. This guy could crush a public figure with a blink of an eye.
To many Hoover was a public figure to be held in high regard, a true American. Yet we find out he was a racist who spent his life tormented by the thought that he himself came from black blood.
What scared me more than anything about this expose was the fact that this man was allowed free reign to do whatever he pleased under the guise of bieng the head of the FBI. His involvement and the coverage in the book on the deaths of John Dillinger and Marilyn Monroe as well as the death of JFK shocked me.
To anyone interested in recent American history, please read this. It will cast a new light on the macinations of the FBI under this man, it will show just how corrupt the American system can be when in the wrong hands.
The fact he was a cross dressing homosexual was bad enough (although the vision of him in a dress and high heels is a great source of entertainment) but this book goes far deeper.
I never liked Hoover, always thought he looked shifty, this books shows just how shifty he was.
Again Anthony Summers has written a concise thorough investigation into the mind and life of another American public figure of the "do as I say and not as I do" brigade.
A brilliant book which never loses pace in it's writing
To many Hoover was a public figure to be held in high regard, a true American. Yet we find out he was a racist who spent his life tormented by the thought that he himself came from black blood.
What scared me more than anything about this expose was the fact that this man was allowed free reign to do whatever he pleased under the guise of bieng the head of the FBI. His involvement and the coverage in the book on the deaths of John Dillinger and Marilyn Monroe as well as the death of JFK shocked me.
To anyone interested in recent American history, please read this. It will cast a new light on the macinations of the FBI under this man, it will show just how corrupt the American system can be when in the wrong hands.
The fact he was a cross dressing homosexual was bad enough (although the vision of him in a dress and high heels is a great source of entertainment) but this book goes far deeper.
I never liked Hoover, always thought he looked shifty, this books shows just how shifty he was.
Again Anthony Summers has written a concise thorough investigation into the mind and life of another American public figure of the "do as I say and not as I do" brigade.
A brilliant book which never loses pace in it's writing
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Wicked
You don't have to read any book on J.E.H. to know he was one wicked vengeful man, as are a large majority of men/women who enter politics..... the world over.... Read more
Published 2 months ago by James
Th secret life of J Edgar Hoover.
A very interesting subject, but very poorly written. My 10 year old son could have written a much better book and more interesting. I would not recomend this book.
Published 2 months ago by hairy harry
An eye opener
I thoroughly enjoyed 'J Edgar Hoover'. I have seen the FBI headquaters building in Washington named after him, and it's amazing to think how someone with his devious record could... Read more
Published 3 months ago by W. R. Robinson
..mostly rumour, innuendo and hearsay...
This 1993 book by Anthony Summers is devoted to 'accentuating the negative' regarding J. Edgar Hoover. Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2010 by J. P. Ryder
Secret Life of J Edgar Hoover, Secret and Confidential
A enthralling book, I couldn't put it down until the end. Very informative on many murky subjects.
Published on 6 Aug 2009 by Jeeves
Ultimate blackmail
An absolutely brilliant book that blows the lid off the myth of J. Edgar Hoover as a top crimefighter. Read more
Published on 29 Nov 2008 by Mr. R. J. Wilson
An amazing expose
This book is an excellent account of the life and times of J Edgar Hoover. It reveals that a man who is still considered to be one of the finest lawmen in the 20th century was, in... Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2008 by Mrs. TK Ellis
A fantastic piece of investigative journalism.
Anthony Summers is a superb author and this book on J Edgar Hoover shows us how corrupt people were in successive US governments, the CIA and FBI. Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2000
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