THE BOSS J. Edgar Hoover and the Great American Inquisition.

Hardback, 1st UK edn. A biography in which the authors drew on new and highly sensitive evidence to create a shocking portrait of the man who headed the FBI for 48yrs. In 1925 'the Boss' opened 'obscene' files to record damaging personal and sexual information on a host of prominent American figures: from the Roosevelts to the Kennedys no-one was excluded. He used these files ruthlessly and, in the process, transformed the FBI from a small government agency into one of America's most powerful institutions. On the surface Hoover appeared an administrative genius - efficient, professional and apolitical: few knew how he operated behind the scenes, to the extent that the authors suggest McCarthyism would have been more accurately named Hooverism. Drawing on secret files, they discovered records of break-ins, phone-tappings, orders for buggings, as well as information on some of America's most public figures. And, in a series of interviews with members of Hoover's family, as well as politicians, FBI agents and even some of Hoover's targets, an extraordinary portrait emerges of a man with an insatiable thirst for power who manipulated American politics for nearly half a century. Illus., Notes and Index. 489pp. lge. 8vo. F. in Nr. F. dw. A heavy book which will require additional postage, particularly if shipped overseas.