Public Enemies; America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34

Bryan Burrough

ISBN 10: 0143035371 / ISBN 13: 9780143035374

Published by Penguin Books, New York, NY, 2005

About this Item

Penguin Books, New York. 2005. Softcover/Trade Wraps. First Printing by Line Number. Book is tight, square, and unmarked. Book Condition: Very Good; light edge and tip wear. No DJ. Pictorial card stock wraps. Wraps are not bent or folded; spine is not creased or split; text is secure in binding. 592 pp 8vo. This book tells of the two-year battle between J. Edgar Hoover and the motley crew of criminal masterminds who became national icons; John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the Barker-Karpis gangs. With fresh material, the author pulls together all the strands to reveal and intricate web of interconnections within the vast American underworld and shows how Hoover's G-men overcame their early fumbles to secure the FBI's rise to power. A clean very presentable copy. Seller Inventory # 011546

Bibliographic Details

Title: Public Enemies; America's Greatest Crime ...

Publisher: Penguin Books, New York, NY

Publication Date: 2005

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

In Public Enemies, bestselling author Bryan Burrough strips away the thick layer of myths put out by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI to tell the full story--for the first time--of the most spectacular crime wave in American history, the two-year battle between the young Hoover and the assortment of criminals who became national icons: John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the Barkers. In an epic feat of storytelling and drawing on a remarkable amount of newly available material on all the major figures involved, Burrough reveals a web of interconnections within the vast American underworld and demonstrates how Hoover's G-men overcame their early fumbles to secure the FBI's rise to power.

Review:

"Brims with vivid portraiture ... Excellent true crime." --The New York Times Book Review

"An amazingly detailed true-life thriller..." --Entertainment Weekly

"It is hard to imagine a more careful, complete and entrancing book on the subject, and on this era." --The Washington Post

"[A] riveting true-crime tale... Fascinating... The real story, it turns out, is much better than the Hollywood version." --The Wall Street Journal

"Spellbinding... A model of narrative journalism and [a] gripping read." --BusinessWeek