Athan G. Theoharis

Explores the FBI's history of operational failures, overrated abilities, and frequent use of wiretaps, buggings, and breaks-ins in a study that assesses how the FBI's extralegal activities have undermined civil liberties and agency accountability.

A Brief Critical History

The FBI and American Democracy

The FBI & American Democracy

Was J. Edgar Hoover a homosexual? And did organized-crime leaders, knowing this, blackmail the FBI director into leaving them alone? These charges won almost instant popular acceptance when they were aired not long ago in a sensational biography of Hoover. But Athan Theoharis, our foremost authority on Hoover and the FBI, here shows that the accusations are spurious, and that the story of Hoover's real approach to sex and organized crime is far more intriguing. The chilling portrait that takes shape in these pages is that of a moralistic bureaucrat who would not hesitate to use sex-related information against his political enemies - but only when it could not be traced to FBI investigations. And the FBI's ineffectiveness in pursuing organized-crime leaders had nothing to do with Hoover's vulnerability; it resulted from the director's lack of accountability, his use of illegal investigative techniques, and his focus on political activities. Punctuating his narrative with case materials drawn from Hoover's secret files - on presidential candidates, senators, congressmen, artists and writers, college presidents, and others - Theoharis unravels the brilliantly devious means that Hoover used to accomplish his political ends. And he shows how they contributed to a culture of lawlessness within the FBI itself. J. Edgar Hoover, Sex, and Crime is a useful corrective to our history as well as a fascinating exploration of one of the twentieth century's most sinister minds.

An Historical Antidote

J. Edgar Hoover, Sex, and Crime

Jeanne Theoharis

This book ... on postwar America ... looks at civil rights and civil liberties in tandem and does so over the past fifty years. It merges two historical approaches - of looking at America from the view of those in the highest seats of power and from the perspectives of those too often denied political and economic access. It shows that the civil rights movement was not just a southern movement but spanned the nation; not just a movement for African Americans but waged by other people of color, including Latinos and Native Americans as well as women of all races; and not just a struggle that began in the mid-1950s and ended in the mid-1960s. It was more varies ... more grassroots, and more broad than many other studies of the postwar period have shown. -Pref.

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in America Since 1945

These Yet to be United States

Robert Griffith

The Specter; Original Essays on the Cold War and the Origins of McCarthyism

Susan Rosenfeld

"Since its inception in the early 20th century the Federal Bureau of Investigation has emerged as a dominant agency in the American judicial system. Within its 10 chapters, this source provides a comprehensive chronological history of and guide to the FBI that includes information about the facilities, the organizational structure, and biographies of key individuals. This reference source will not only please FBI enthusiasts, but it also serves as an excellent resource for those interested in U.S. history, criminal justices, and American culture. Also included is an extensive chronology of key events, a subject index, and an authoritative bibliography. Numerous photographs throughout the book illustrate the essays, along with graphs and tables. An excellent reference source for all libraries".--"Outstanding Reference Sources : the 1999 Selection of New Titles", American Libraries, May 1999. Comp. by the Reference Sources Committee, RUSA, ALA.

A Comprehensive Reference Guide

The FBI

This book is a comprehensive history of the abuses of the American domestic intelligence system from 1936 until May 1978. Drawing from the mountain of bureaucratic memos that Congressional committees and the Freedom of Information Act have pried loose, the author traces the step-by-step expansion of the authority of the FBI and other agencies to investigate the loyalty of American citizens exercising their civil liberties. In the process, he also shows the daily Washington struggle of top-level bureaucrats for power and programs. -- from Publisher description.

Political Surveillance from Hoover to the Huston Plan

Spying on Americans

John Stuart Cox

Traces the life of J. Edgar Hoover, examines the way in which he ran the FBI, and discusses the secret files he kept on politicians, celebrities, and extremists.

Athan G. Theoharis

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