Puppetmaster:The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover - Richard Hack Audiobook

Written by Richard Hack
Read by Dan Cashman
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Phoenix Books, Inc.
Release date: May 15, 2007
Duration: 12:55:25

J. Edgar Hoover, the most powerful lawman in America for over fifty years, was also the country’s most controversial and corrupt public servant.

His career spanned nine different presidential administrations, and he survived a dozen attempts to sweep him from his post as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Hoover reshaped domestic law enforcement as he expanded the reach of the FBI and transformed his G-men into an elite national crime fighting division.

While many of Hoover’s achievements and insecurities are well documented, author Richard Hack reveals for the first time the most hidden secrets of Hoover’s private life and exposes previously undisclosed conduct that threatened to compromise the security of the entire nation. Based on recently uncovered files and personal documents as well as over 100,000 pages of FBI memos and State Department papers, Puppetmasters, The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover rips the lid off the director’s facade of propriety to detail a life replete with sexual indiscretions, criminal behavior and a long-standing alliance with the Mafia.

A review’s note - The serious inquirer may wish to consult the print version for its notes and plates. The author could have tightened up the text, but for all, this Dan Cashman version is well worth attention. Cashman makes every line an adventure. He even tries to give the quotes a sense of the character of the speaker. While the effort may be in questionable taste, it does humanize and enliven the narrative

While reading this, remember the Hoover was a man of his time and law enforcement was much different.