Enemies: A History of the FBI [NOOK Book]

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Overview

Enemies is the first definitive history of the FBI’s secret intelligence operations, from an author whose work on the Pentagon and the CIA won him the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
 
We think of the FBI as America’s police force. But secret intelligence is the Bureau’s first and foremost mission. Enemies is the story of how presidents have used the FBI as the most formidable intelligence force in American history.
 
Here is the hidden history of America’s hundred-year war on terror. The FBI has fought against terrorists, spies, anyone it deemed subversive—and ...
See more details below

More About This Book

Overview

Enemies is the first definitive history of the FBI’s secret intelligence operations, from an author whose work on the Pentagon and the CIA won him the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
 
We think of the FBI as America’s police force. But secret intelligence is the Bureau’s first and foremost mission. Enemies is the story of how presidents have used the FBI as the most formidable intelligence force in American history.
 
Here is the hidden history of America’s hundred-year war on terror. The FBI has fought against terrorists, spies, anyone it deemed subversive—and sometimes American presidents. The FBI’s secret intelligence and surveillance techniques have created a tug-of-war between protecting national security and infringing upon civil liberties. It is a tension that strains the very fabric of a free republic.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Bryan Burrough
…outstanding…even-handed, exhaustively researched, smoothly written and thematically timely…certainly the most complete book we are likely to see about the F.B.I.'s intelligence-gathering operations, from Emma Goldman to Osama bin Laden. The problem with some F.B.I. histories is that they come off as a list of unrelated cases—case after case after very old case. Where Mr. Weiner excels is in connecting the dots…Another weakness of some F.B.I. books is their portrayal of Hoover as either a Machiavellian villain or, worse, a figure of unassailable power. He was neither. Mr. Weiner does a superb job, maybe the best I've seen, at charting the ebbs and flows of Hoover's power, chronicling in detail his relationship with presidents over 40 years.
—The New York Times
Dina Temple-Raston
What makes Enemies so compelling is that it draws heavily on previously unavailable intelligence files…Weiner uses them, and previously unheard oral histories, to set the record straight about the bureau's conduct both in times of war and in times of peace…Enemies is more than a definitive history of the FBI. Weiner…is really writing about the basic tension between civil liberties and national security in this country.
—The Washington Post
More Reviews (3) Fewer Reviews
Kevin Baker
…important and disturbing…Wisely concentrating on the F.B.I.'s secret intelligence operations, Weiner lays bare a record of embarrassing, even stunning failure, in which the bureau's lawlessness was matched only by its incompetence…Weiner…has done prodigious research, yet tells this depressing story with all the verve and coherence of a good spy thriller.
—The New York Times Book Review
Library Journal
The FBI during the 20th century was synonymous with J. Edgar Hoover, whose secret intelligence operations were top priority. This title examines the vital role that gathering and using intelligence played in defining the FBI and its place in American society. Weiner does an excellent job of creating a definitive history and paints a clear picture for the listener of how from the 1920s until his death, Hoover was obsessed with intelligence, obtained despite illegalities and violations of civil liberties, and how it fueled his vast power through several Presidents. There are many revelations here: Hoover's real obsession was anticommunism, and he wove this into everything from the civil rights movement to his distrust of the CIA. Another eye-opener is the lack of evidence relating to rumors of Hoover's sexuality. VERDICT Stefan Rudnicki does an outstanding job of conveying the mood, gravity, and emotion of the text via his energetic reading. ["Weiner's book is so engrossing that even the footnotes make for worthwhile reading," read the also starred review of the Random hc, LJ 4/15/12.—Ed.]—Scott R. DiMarco, Mansfield Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib.
Kirkus Reviews
Drawing on thousands of pages of recently declassified documents and oral histories, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Weiner (Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, 2008, etc.) delivers an authoritative and often frightening history of what has been, in effect, America's secret police. The history of the FBI is easily divided into two periods: the J. Edgar Hoover period and after. In 1924, before he was 30, Hoover took over a tiny, tawdry Bureau and built it into a fearsome empire he ruled as a personal fiefdom until his death in 1972. The Bureau under Hoover did as it pleased and answered to no one. Illegal wiretapping, bugging, black-bag jobs--the organization did it all in the service of Hoover's relentless pursuit of communist subversives real and imaginary. In the process he assembled files of devastating information on thousands of Americans from the presidents on down. Much of this scurrilous information was obtained on the direct orders of presidents and attorneys general, and was supplied to them for their own uses. After Hoover's death, these abuses were reined in, but the Bureau has since endured a series of flawed directors who have proven unable to bring order to its sprawling and insular chaos or overcome a culture of rigidity and bureaucratic ineptitude. Weiner focuses on the FBI's activities investigating and attempting to prevent subversion and terrorism and writes little about the Bureau's pursuit of gangsters and white-collar criminals, which has taken up far fewer resources than the public supposes. A major theme is the difference between investigations intended to support criminal prosecutions and those intended to disrupt potential subversive activity. The former require strict adherence to constitutional safeguards; the latter, however necessary they seemed at the time, have all too often trampled on civil liberties. Striking an appropriate balance between liberty and security remains an ongoing challenge for the FBI. Weiner contributes much new, troubling and thoroughly substantiated information to any serious consideration of that issue. A sober, monumental and unflinchingly critical account of a problematic institution.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780679643890
  • Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 2/14/2012
  • Sold by: Random House
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 560
  • Sales rank: 7,461
  • File size: 3 MB

Meet the Author

Tim Weiner has won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting and writing on secret intelligence and national security. As a correspondent for The New York Times, he covered the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington and terrorism in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Sudan, and other nations. Enemies is his fourth book. His Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA won the National Book Award and was acclaimed as one of the year’s best books by The New York Times, The Economist, The Washington Post, Time, and many other publications. The Wall Street Journal called Betrayal “the best book ever written on a case of espionage.” He is now working on a history of the American military.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3
( 17 )

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Sort by: Showing all of 16 Customer Reviews

  • Posted March 25, 2012

    An amazing historical capsule. Fascinating! Instructive.

    Very well written. Extremely we'll documented and presented. A mind blowing historical review of our ineptness (and sometimes greatness) in times past and as a modern society, to do what apparently must be done, to protect ourselves, indeed, preserve our nation and our way of life -- such as it seems to be. A clear case of what America and Americans must learn, and how we must behave, to survive in our world today.... and tomorrow.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 18, 2012

    A biased and unreliable account

    This started as an interesting story of FBI history, but then it degenerated into yet one more diatribe against the Bush administration so typical of a NY Times reporter, or former reporter. The book became so biased that I question the veracity and accuracy of the entire book.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted April 16, 2012

    Good Narration On FBI

    The author goes into elaborate details to describe the FBI's effort over the years in combating counter terrorism & communism. The brief life sketch on Hoover is also enjoyable.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 8, 2012

    Interesting

    This was a great book

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 3, 2012

    The FBI- Not What I Had Thought

    I had always pictured the FBI as this super-secret,highly effective agency with flaws. Surprise,surprise! Great research! Read it and learn.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 25, 2012

    Recommend

    Good read.

    0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 16, 2012

    Discussing this book on C-Span, he describes Joseph McCarthy as

    Discussing this book on C-Span, he describes Joseph McCarthy as a terrible drunk and a lunatic. Great book for the Left.

    0 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 25, 2012

    Ha 1 review

    Looks like a cool book

    0 out of 31 people found this review helpful.

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