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Anthony Summers

The Secret Life Of J. Edgar Hoover Hardcover – Import, January 1, 1993

by Anthony Summers (Author)

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Print length

800 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Gollancz
Publication date

January 1, 1993
Dimensions

6.3 x 1.77 x 9.45 inches
ISBN-10

0575042362
ISBN-13

978-0575042360
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gollancz; 1st edition (January 1, 1993)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 800 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0575042362
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0575042360
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.22 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1.77 x 9.45 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #14,335,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,358 in Intelligence & Espionage History
- #10,669 in Law Enforcement (Books)
- #824,685 in Biographies

Customer Reviews:
328 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		57%
4 star		23%
3 star		9%
2 star		5%
1 star		6%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Don

The truth about Hoover you never expected.

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2017

Verified Purchase

What a surprise to learn what a devious man he was. Blackmailed nearly every congressman and all of the presidents he served. Never cooperated with the newly formed CIA and we were given good early warnings about Pearl Harbor that was ignored by Hoover. I truly believe he worked with the MOB to eliminate the Kennedy's and was a master at coverup and blackmail. He is one of the worst scoundrals that ever worked for the USA.

36 people found this helpful

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Paul Atreides

Everything Changes But Still Remains the Same

Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2019

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A timely book to give us a background of the current scandals in the FBI. Only the names have changed; the spying and blackmailing have been going on since the inception of the department. The failed coup attempts are also a matter of interest. All in all, there are dedicated agents in the department, some good, some very, very bad. I would say that 3 top layers of the agency should be sheared off and replaced with men who could pass both an IQ and a drug test. These men are out there, they just aren't working for the upper echelon of the FBI. With the history of J. Edgar Hoover, it is not surprising that there have been so many petty and evil things perpetrated by the FBI. A biography of J. Edgar is a telling history of the agency.

10 people found this helpful

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Seth Stephens

Read at the risk of losing any faith you now have in government politics.

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2017

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Well written and researched. After reading this I have absolutely no faith in poltitians and wouldn't walk across the street to shake ones hand. This book wiped out all faith I had in the people we continue to elect and send to Washington. The only thing l think that will save my faith in our government is to put four or six year term limits on all congressional positions but of course that will never happen. They will never give up their power.

16 people found this helpful

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Robert Bennett

This really is a MUST read !

Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2016

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Great read !! More people should read this and learn who J Edgar Hoover really was and he should never have been allowed to have the free reign in government that he had. Certainly explains why the mob was not pursued by the FBI and the criminal closeness of Hoover to the top mobsters. Opens a lot questions and suspects in the death of Marilyn Monroe and JFK.
This really is a MUST read.

28 people found this helpful

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NightRanger

An Accurate Account of a Pathological Demagogue Who Held Way Too Much Power for Way Too Long

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2016

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A well-researched well documented epic of Hoover's smutty secret life. The fact that the FBI headquarters is still named after him is an anathema to this reader. Hoover deserves neither praise nor honor for subverting the ideals upon which this country was founded. Summers book is a clear and accurate indictment of his pathological personality and its damage it caused to many individuals as well as the freedoms we claim this country embraces.

25 people found this helpful

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Paul Schulte

Terrific read.

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2016

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This book is a fire cracker. The author uncovers new material about the same excesses of Hoover and then is able to make a balanced condemnation of his gestapo reign. He was no better than the secret police in a tinpot dictatorship. He destroyed innocent lives. He ruined good people. He was a two bit thief. US History needs to purge him the way that soviet history purged Stalin ....... TERRIFIC READ.

26 people found this helpful

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Donald Stettler

Tells the whole story of Hoover

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2018

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It really blows open the story of how Hoover controlled the FBI. It also tells even more about Hoover that was not well known. He had ties to organized crime that is shocking and the way he used the FBI to spy on regular people was shocking. It tells how he controlled his own agents so they would do what he wanted even though they knew it was illegal. It also tells how he controlled the reporters and politicians. A must read for people who lived through the 60's and 70's.

9 people found this helpful

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Wiley

J. Edgar Hoover

Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2020

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The man was far lesser than the myth. In reality, he was a self serving and profit seeking individual driven by the need to maintain his power and position by whatever means necessary. His secret files kept presidents at bay and his personal failures kept him from admitting the existence of organized crime. The chapters on Martin Luther King, the Kennedys, and LBJ reveal how their personal lives made them easy victims of Hoover. The author’s revelations about these men seriously tarnish their image.

While well researched and documented, I found myself skimming many areas of this lengthy book. There are numerous but repetitive examples of Hoover’s misdeeds. Their are only so many ways to sin and Hoover made a career of doing it repeatedly.

One person found this helpful

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Partick Potter

Disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 30, 2016

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There's a great book to be written about Hoover and the FBI - this, however, isn't it.

The author makes a poor job of articulating his arguments from the mass of evidence he has gathered. Two particular problems stand out - he mixes subjective and objective opinion throughout the book: this is no dispassionate account of Hoover. The author's intense dislike of the man is evident in his subjective comments that are frequently melodramatic. The author also mixes fact and innuendo leaving us guessing what is the truth. I understand that much of Hoover's actions are shrouded in uncertainty, but there is more than enough hard evidence to make the case the author is seeking to make.

Add to that a rambling narrative style, particularly in the first half of the book where the author make his case about Hoover's sexuality. This just goes on and on and on and on and...

I read this book through to the end only because it was a book club choice, and was rewarded with the best part of the book covering the 1960s and Hoover's interactions with Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. There was some fascinating information here - which elevated the rating I've given by a star! Overall though, the book is very disappointing.

3 people found this helpful

Dylan35

Strange days indeed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2015

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There's a long and inglorious history of strange men becoming very powerful indeed in the world of law enforcement and politics. Maybe it's that weird strangeness that drives them to success, or maybe it's the success that drives the behaviour. In Britain, you can almost set your calendar to throw up a weirdo or two, every few years - some judge or MP or Lord - revealed to enjoy the company of young boys, harsh leather clad mistresses or a strategically placed satsuma.

J Edgar Hoover wasn't British weird: but paranoid American weird. His apparent love of cross dressing is mild, a mere sideshow, compared to his insatiable appetite for control and prurient need for deeply personal information.

That his homosexuality had to be kept secret is a sad indictment of the times he lived in. One working theory in the book is that he was blackmailed by the Mafia about this, and consequently arranged that the FBI left them alone.

Hoover got some lucky breaks (for him) from history to further his control; wiretapping authorised by Roosevelt at the beginning of WW2, the Cold War fetid paranoia allowed him almost unchecked power. The FBI files facilitated the HUAC assault on Hollywood, that most un-American of pursuits. Reagan was an early informer, dropping a dime to federal agents deep in the California night. Writers, artists, Senators, Dr King, future Presidents, were all targets.

And, of course, The Kennedys. Especially JFK. With his not so secret extra curricular activity he was a gift to Hoover. There followed a long, hateful chess game; a war of attrition, with Kennedy looking for every opportunity to exorcise this most persistent of thorns.

The FBI both suited and confounded Nixon, and would ultimately contribute to his downfall. Nixon had once tried to join the Bureau but had been turned down for "lacking in aggressiveness".

This book is not just a biography, but a chronicle of strange days indeed, with a most peculiar cast. If Hollywood had dreamed this up it would probably be seen as too fantastic. Scary that it's true.

3 people found this helpful

Thomas A. Regelski

I like the book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2017

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I like the book, hate the story. I have never read a book that made me more angry and at the same time fearful of the American government, especially today in an age of microelectronic snooping, sex-scandals, and the alt-right wing. This book should be read as an example, however controversial, of what did go wrong during Hoover's long period in office, and what is altogether still too possible.

One person found this helpful

bondy

J. Edgar

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 22, 2015

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Great read. Even if only half of it is true (theres plenty of people who have defended the 'great man'). Its a real eye-opener regarding the behind the scenes machinations of scoundrels and villains, politicians and secret government agencies, while the average honest person goes about his life, believing what he reads in the 'sponsored' press and accepting as true what high office tells him, nothing is as it appears. Unbelievable Hypocrisy, lies and deceit, intrigue and 5 decades of American history littered with so many famous names. 500 plus pages, is for once, is not too many.

One person found this helpful

Sue

What a shocking read!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 18, 2014

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For anyone with an interest in American recent history, this is an excellent and shocking read. I would recommend it as a background to other literature of the time as it adds a touch of reality to the political events of the era. Although Edgar died before Watergate, in my mind, it was his actions over the years which equipped the administration with the mind set to undertake their actions which brought down the President. A very good read.

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