The Boss: J. Edgar Hoover and the Great American Inquisition

Theoharis, Athan G. and Cox, John Stuart

ISBN 10: 087722532X / ISBN 13: 9780877225324

Published by Temple University Press, 1988

About this Item

Philadelphia. 1988. Temple University Press. 1st Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 087722532x. 489 pages. hardcover. keywords: FBI Politics History. DESCRIPTION - A biography in which the authors drew on new and highly sensitive evidence to create a shocking portrait of the man who headed the FBI for 48 years. In 1925 'the Boss' opened 'obscene' files to record damaging personal and sexual information on a host of prominent American figures: from the Roosevelts to the Kennedys no-one was excluded. He used these files ruthlessly and, in the process, transformed the FBI from a small government agency into one of America's most powerful institutions. On the surface Hoover appeared an administrative genius - efficient, professional and apolitical: few knew how he operated behind the scenes, to the extent that the authors suggest McCarthyism would have been more accurately named Hooverism. Drawing on secret files, they discovered records of break-ins, phone-tappings, orders for buggings, as well as information on some of America's most public figures. And, in a series of interviews with members of Hoover's family, as well as politicians, FBI agents and even some of Hoover's targets, an extraordinary portrait emerges of a man with an insatiable thirst for power who manipulated American politics for nearly half a century. inventory #23067. Seller Inventory # z23067

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Boss: J. Edgar Hoover and the Great ...

Publisher: Temple University Press

Publication Date: 1988

Binding: hardcover

Condition: Very Good in Dustjacket

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Another, and powerful, revelation of the depravity of the long-enduring tyrant. Theoharis (history, Marquette U.) and Cox (a freelancer) trace Hoover's career and the administrations that nurtured it and those that were obliged by political expediency to endure it. A careful, readable study. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Review:

"This strong book proves that, at the top, the bureau was turned into what could be called the H.B.I. (Hoover Bureau of Investigation)... Unlike some recent Hoover biographers, the authors do not make apologies for the excesses of 'The Boss.' They have the goods on him. A compelling study." --Herbert Mitgang, New York Times Book Review "I thought I had a fair idea of the damage done to American freedom by J. Edgar Hoover, but I knew nothing until I read The Boss. It is a gripping, nauseating account of a twisted character--and of the underside of the American psyche, which he manipulated so effectively." --Anthony Lewis "Theoharis and Cox, from a study of previously inaccessible FBI files plus extensive interviews, shed further light on the methods by which Hoover attained, employed and abused power, demonstrating that 'The Boss' more proficiently undermined our constitutional guarantees than any political leader before or since. ...This important biography adds significantly to the growing dossier demythologizing a legend." --Publishers Weekly