Secrecy and Power: The Life of J. Edgar Hoover
Powers (History, Coll. of Staten Island, CUNY), author of an earlier work on a related subject ( G-Men: Hoover's FBI in American popular culture ), here offers a full biography of the former FBI director. The book is extremely well researched, covering all aspects of Hoover's controversial career from the Red Scare following World War I to the 1960s and his personal vendettas against Martin Luther King and the civil rights and antiwar movements. While the discussions of Hoover's private life is rather thin, this is due more to a lack of materials than to any failings in the author's research. Overall, this is a balanced and interesting account that is likely to stand for the foreseeable future as the standard work on its subject. Highly recommended.Scott Wright, History Dept., Coll. of St. Thomas, St. PaulCopyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.