Customer Reviews

Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Reading "Public Enemies" is to be transported to the United States of the 1930's. The country seemed peopled with colorful, if ultimately dangerous, criminals like John Dillinger, Bonnie & Clyde and Pretty Boy Floyd and their more anonymous counterparts in law enforcement.
Author Bryan Burroughs re-creates the times, the language, the attitudes, the mores as he tells the story of the rise and fall of celebrity criminals. This is one of those works of non-fiction that is awe inspiring for the breadth and depth of its research alone. That the author is a good storyteller adds to the books magic.
One of the more striking realizations from reading "Public Enemies" was how much the movies of the time and immediately after actually captured the talk and manner and actions of these famous criminals and the fates that awaited them.
Also noteworthy is the transformation of the FBI and others in law enforcement from a bumbling bunch of Keystone Cops to an efficient crime fighting force. The first half of the book is replete with bungled arrests, leads not followed and daring escapes under the very noses of the law.
Some may feel that Burroughs goes into excessive detail in following the daily paths of the criminals. But this reader was fascinated and enjoyed the ride. Prior to "Public Enemies" I knew little about the charismatic Dillinger and didn't know my Pretty Boy Floyd, from my Baby Face Nelson from my Machine Gun Kelly. Now I'm well acquainted with these characters and those who pursued them.
If one can temporarily ignore the cost in lives and resources inflicted by these criminals their stories is as the best of fiction, with daring deeds, colorful characters, shootouts and ultimate justice.
Burroughs places the people and events in context of the times and reveals how the successful killing and capture of these very public enemies led to the rise of the FBI and its director J. Edgar Hoover. This is not a particularly flattering portrait of Hoover (frankly, I don't think he deserves one). Seen in a far better light are the anonymous agents and police who put in considerable time and their lives on the line in pursuit of the public enemies.
This is an awesome book with an appeal to those already well versed in the times and events and those seeking an introduction to them.

When I first opened this credible, well-researched book, I was delighted to see photos of the FBI agents I have admired in my own Dillinger research. For the first time, a face to the men who put their lives on the line to hunt the public enemies of the 1930s! Also, as a person who has researched the Dillinger women for almost two decades, my delight with the book was established at the respect Burrough paid to the molls. Doris Lockerman's eyewitness account of the night Melvin Purvis helped Frechette, by letting her sleep during the endless interrogation - that is not an anti-FBI story but a pro-FBI story.

The term "plagiarism," in one review, confuses me completely. The use of quotes originally published under copyright by Melvin Purvis, is "fair use," not "plagiarism." Fair use is defined by publishing law, and there is no evidence of such encroachment here. In defense of quoting Melvin Purvis - the man was hounded and silenced by Hoover. It is important that readers, who may not have purchased Purvis's book, get the vantage point of his own opinions.

I agree with Rick Mattix that downloadable FBI documents are the tip of the iceberg. The FBI Reading Room holds the true history in the 38,000 pages on file in the stacks. Burrough has widely, and accurately, cited those documents.

And where is it written that historians can no longer examine the role of Melvin Purvis? Mr. Purvis, one of my heroes in the Dillinger saga, has inspired controversy since his original role in the FBI ended. Mr. Burrough went to great length to feature the faces of the FBI agents in a never-before published photo gallery. He honored their role by doing so.

For readers who hunger for more information on the peripheral gang members, there is a lot of new material. The true address of the St. Andrews Hotel in New York City, for instance, where John Paul Chase lammed with Sally Bachman, is one important detail I've never seen. Also, Burrough confirmed my suspicions that Lester Gillis never trusted Bachman. This book offers many levels upon which the reader can discern with intelligence and objectivity.

"Public Enemies" is a an excellent book, loaded with detail and extremely readable. Burrough's unique approach to the subject matter (showing how the careers of the criminals and their pursuers intertwined over a remarkably short period of time) allows us to see ALL sides of the people and the events involved. As a result, it is neither pro-criminal nor pro-FBI -- rather it is a fascinating documentary of a remarkable time period in American history.

The reviewer who calls this a pro-criminal book should have his head examined. This book replaces the cartoon characters in our heads with the names Bonnie, Clyde, Dillinger, et al, with 3-dimensional human beings, and they're not pretty. They're compelling, because they're such monsters, but this is hardly a positive portrayal of these legendary ciminals! The heroes here are the FBI, who we see learning on the job, recovering from their disastrous mistakes, and taking these criminals down in the end. I bought this book b/c I read a review in TIme that called it "massively researched and ludicrously entertaining," and boy are both true.

Brian Burrough has taken alot of time to set the record straight about several major criminal gangs in the 1930s. John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, "Baby Face Nelson" and other criminals traveled primarily through the central U.S., robbing and murdering along the way. Local police deparmtents were either powerless to stop them or were so corrupt they wouldn't do anything. Into this situation stepped the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation. (It was named the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- the F.B.I.-- later.) It's agents were not the highly-trained agents we see today. J. Edgar Hoover and his agents had to learn along the way; they get the job done, but mistakes are made as the criminals are rounded up. Be prepared to see the criminals in a new light: Bonnie and Clyde, for example, are nothing like the 1960s movie. The real Bonnie & Clyde were nothing but sociopaths who murdered at the drop of a hat.

If you have liked Burrough's other efforts (Barbarians at the Gate, Vendetta, and Dragonfly) you will enjoy Public Enemies. If you haven't read any of his previous works, get this book and you will be happy to have read it!

As it is generally thought of, the great crime wave of 1933/1934 that turned the FBI into a major organization and made household names out of Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, and the Barker Gang is in fact really just a story of your everyday basic thugs and killers who were connected together in the shadowy underworld of post-prohibition America.

According to Burrough, whose research is amazing in its scope and ability to "correct" other books, these criminals that are still household names today were simply the result of a couple of coincidences.

1 - The peak of the depression in the midwest had driven many people into poverty. This increase in poverty led to more crime. Also, since so many people were broke or bankrupt due to banks taking their property, bank robbers were viewed as heroes to many.

2 - The FBI in 1932 was primarily an organization designed to find kidnappers. This all changed when, for the first time, an FBI agent was killed in the line of duty (Kansas City Massacre). From then on, the FBI, under Herbert Hoover, went about trying to make itself into a national police force.

3 - The large number of criminals operating at the same time made it appear as if America were experiencing a "Crime Wave", when in fact it was just a short term by-product of the Depression.

4 - The FBI should've caught all of them numerous times but blew it because they were still trying to work out the kinks in their new role as a national police force.

I don't want to give too much away, so I will simply say this:

Even though the real stories of these criminals is less exciting than the myths about them, Burrough does a wonderful job of telling their stories, which are still more interesting and exciting than any fiction I have read in years.


Highly Recommended!

Between mid June 1933 and the end of 1935 Americans were caught up in the war on crime. J. Edgar Hoover's FBI were trying to rid the country of criminals whose names we still recognize today.....John Dillenger, Bonnie and Clyde,Baby Face Nelson,Alvin Karpis,Ma Barker and her boys. The Lindbergh kidnaping had left a deeply shaken nation, and Hoover wanted his department to lead the way to a new crime free era. Hoover's men didn't carry guns,they investigated. That set them at adistinct disadvantage to the gangsters, they carried guns and were willing to use them. Set against the backdrop of the Depression, Byran Burrough introduces us to a group of unforgettable persons,stripping away myth. Interestingly, Hoover, himself is responsible for many of the myths that sprang up about the G men. These G men were mostly
college educated, mixed with some seasoned lawmen who shared the visionof a national bureau designed to stamp out crime. Some were more driven towards self promotion(Melvin Purvis's legend takes a beating)which was in direct competition with Hoover's need to micro manage and claim the glory.
Familiar crime figures are given faces(not the most attractive bunch)and their backgrounds are fleshed out.The emergence of the planned bank robbery,with getaway car and lookouts raised the stakes. Many of these criminals shared loose ties and often you find members of one gang involved in another's scheme. In a somewhat telling moment Bonnie Parker, when asked what she wanted the public to know about her
replied "I don't smoke cigars". As crimes are carried out, these gangs seem to get away, almost at will. The FBI are slow on the trail, hampered by local police(often corrupt)and their own infighting and unwillingness to check tips and follow up leads. As the public humiliation grows,the bureau begins to catch some lucky breaks and more seasoned lawmen come on determined to stop the lawlessness.The bureau
as we now know it began to develop in those months.Thoroughly
researched, Public Enemies not only captures the times but accurately portrays the drudgery both a life of crime and a life chasing crime. Some old stories weather the closer look....Dillinger's betrayal by the woman at the movie theater. Some are new.....Hoover insisting on "arresting" Alvin Karpis after being embarrassed in congressional hearings. A must read for anyone who grew up on "The Untouchables" and old gangster movies.

"Enemies" reads like a the firing of the Thompson machine gun these various 1930 gangs used to overwhelm local police and against the young rookie white collar FBI recruits, who joined the FBI because it was the only job available in the depression. Burrough's telling of the "War on Crime" fires off facts, incidents, characters in a rapid none stop narrative. The telling like a diary in chronological order of who robbed, killed, ambushed, kidnapped and was caught and escaped on any given day. All the while J. Edger Hoover's FBI demonstrated they were out manned, outgunned, and really were the keystone cops of sloppy police work. And the press got the publics attention, especially with Dillenger, as they ran with the criminal as underdog "hero" story. No doubt the book is epic in trying a huge cast of characters, scores of individual FBI agents to six major crime families and there leaders and members. Here you will find The St. Paul Yeggs, Pretty Boy Floyd, The Barrow Gang (Bonnie and Clyde), The Barker-Karpis Gang (Ma Barker), The Baby Face Nelson Gang, and the Dillinger Gang. The narrative is at it's best when following Dillinger's exploits and the FBI's fruitless attempts to capture him and with the Barker-Karpis Gang (Alvin Karpis story begins the book in the prologue and ends the book with his capture and imprisonment). I found the book enjoyable and certainly an education on the "War on Crime", a give it a definite recommendation, however, after a while all the characters, bank robberies, gun fights, girl friends, chases, missed opportunities become overwhelming and you do on occasion want to say, enough is enough. And all the while I was reading this I thought, WOW shouldn't HBO make this a limited TV series, a kind of Band of Brothers of Gangsters.

Great overall study of the Midwest crime wave of the early 1930s.Well written and a real page-turner.Best book on the subject since Toland's "Dillinger Days"....

Whenever you produce an abridged version of any book, there is a risk that you'll edit out things which end up being not just relevant, but even critical to full enjoyment of the work.

That's pretty much the case here.

There is so much encyclopedic material in the full book that the abridgement loses way too many references. The result is, unfortunately, that the devoted reader misses pieces which are really crucial to understanding the huge picture of crime and criminals being painted here.

"Pentimento." I'd recommend skipping the abridged audio version and reading the whole book instead.