3bc0c09b_30_of_130___sorted_by__review___review
[0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title The Puppetmaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover [author] author Hack, Richard [isbn] isbn 1893224872 [isbn13] isbn13 9781893224872 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 455 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.45 [num ratings] num ratings 196 [date pub] date pub Feb 13, 2004 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Apr 12, 2004 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 1 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Mar 20, 2009 [date added] date added Jan 12, 2009 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review] 
review The creation of the FBI and the development of federal law enforcement is an interesting story. Laws weren't structured well to handle criminals with The creation of the FBI and the development of federal law enforcement is an interesting story. Laws weren't structured well to handle criminals with a new ability to use automobiles to rapidly cross jurisdictional lines, they had to be created from scratch. Some parts of the book deal with gossip and rumor without clearly stating with what the gossip was, assuming the reader is familiar for example with Washington politics in the 1930s. Later in the book the author does a better job of explaining that for instance all 'Hoover was a cross-dresser' rumors can be traced to a single source (and that one in particular has no other evidence, just the one source). But there is plenty of well-documented dirt on Hoover. The author points these out in detail but suspends judgement, maybe suggesting that the corruption Hoover rid from the federal law enforcement establishment earlier in his career was not entirely superseded by his own (which seemed to increase as his time in office accumulated, or just became better documented). If a president had replaced Hoover much earlier on we'd all probably think a lot more of him. One annoyance is that can be attributed to dramatic license is that thoughts and actions are attributed to characters that couldn't possibly have been documented. It's harmless but it undermines the integrity of the book. ...more
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