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80 reviews for:
Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the Fbi, 1933-34
Bryan Burrough
3.86 AVERAGE
80 reviews for:
Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the Fbi, 1933-34
Bryan Burrough
3.86 AVERAGE
It was a little difficult to get in to at first, as the author attempts to weave a lot of different crimes together and throws out a lot of names. Once he settled into telling how those crimes led to the formation of the FBI, it got a lot better. His man-crush on Dillinger is obvious, as is his disgust with Bonnie & Clyde. He's also got nothing good to say about Purvis, which makes me want to read more about him because he couldn't have been THAT bad, right? Overall, a good intro in to the time period and the birth of the FBI.
I'm marking this as read even though I didn't get past page 50. I could only read 2-3 pages at a time so it was slow going and I gave up.
dark
tense
slow-paced
A methodically researched historical crime account that takes the reader day by day through the biggest crime spree in American history. This was the source material for Michael Mann's film, but it's the rare real life account that's ten times the whopper that the adaptation. Mann's movie focused almost completely on John Dillenger. This book features the life stories of all the 1933 bank robbers and kidnappers, many of them including the true unsung bandit of criminal mastermind: Alvin Karpis.
This was such a page-turner. I was utterly fascinated with the history of the FBI as well as the myths versus truths of famous criminals such as John Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde. The Dillinger story was particularly interesting. It's hard to believe the FBI is a relatively new institution in America because it's strange to imagine the criminal justice system without it these days. Best history book I've read in a very long time, highly recommended, A+.
Geeft interessante inzichten in de criminaliteit gedurende de depressie in Amerika en de vorming van FBI. Niet alleen John Dillinger wordt gedetailleerd besproken, ook de bendes eromheen worden in kaart gebracht.
[a:Thomas Mullen|43391|Thomas Mullen|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1266939716p2/43391.jpg] recommended this book at the end of [b:The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers|7162346|The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers|Thomas Mullen|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328771588s/7162346.jpg|6783245]. Although I didn't especially enjoy Mullen's fictional tale, this detailed factual account was great.
Using FBI files from that time period, finally opened to the public in the late 1980s, along with additional interviews and research, Burroughs gives a chronological big picture. Instead of just focusing on Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, the Barker Gang or Bonnie & Clyde as most biographers have, Burroughs has compiled all their stories, intertwined with those of the men of the fledgling FBI who tracked them.
What I found interesting:
*how much law enforcement has changed with the introduction of a federal police agency
*how corrupt many cities' police departments were -- probably that is just my naivete and there is still just as much corruption, just more carefully concealed
*how many narrow misses & ridiculous mistakes the FBI suffered in their attempts to apprehend the criminals
*how much Mullen borrowed from actual historical criminals in creating the Firefly brothers, truth being just as crazy and interesting as fiction
Using FBI files from that time period, finally opened to the public in the late 1980s, along with additional interviews and research, Burroughs gives a chronological big picture. Instead of just focusing on Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, the Barker Gang or Bonnie & Clyde as most biographers have, Burroughs has compiled all their stories, intertwined with those of the men of the fledgling FBI who tracked them.
What I found interesting:
*how much law enforcement has changed with the introduction of a federal police agency
*how corrupt many cities' police departments were -- probably that is just my naivete and there is still just as much corruption, just more carefully concealed
*how many narrow misses & ridiculous mistakes the FBI suffered in their attempts to apprehend the criminals
*how much Mullen borrowed from actual historical criminals in creating the Firefly brothers, truth being just as crazy and interesting as fiction
This book was as exciting and gripping as a good gangster film! In fact, in many ways it was more exciting than the new film based on it. The film focuses only on John Dillinger; the book traces a number of other gangsters operating at the same time--Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd and the Barker gang. Burroughs weaves all their individual stories together into a coherent, and gripping, narrative. And he does so in a way that never overwhelms or confuses the reader. The writing style kept me up late reading, anxious to find out what would happen next. The book is meticulously researched, but never dry.
I am shocked at the overall high rating this book has on goodreads. I was annoyed from the Note prior to the book all the way to page 50 when I finally abandoned it. Had I been writing a term paper on the subjects of the book, I might feel differently. However, as a recreational read, I felt that this was way too heavy on details.
The author brags in his Note at the beginning of the book how no one prior to this had combined the cast of characters that he assembled in his telling of the story. One likely reason that this is (assuming it is) true is because there are far too many characters in this story and they quickly became a jumbled mess in my head.
I could have (and have frequently have) plodded through the book and not abandoned it. But, I have been reading some really great books lately and the opportunity cost of spending another minute on this one was far too great.
The author brags in his Note at the beginning of the book how no one prior to this had combined the cast of characters that he assembled in his telling of the story. One likely reason that this is (assuming it is) true is because there are far too many characters in this story and they quickly became a jumbled mess in my head.
I could have (and have frequently have) plodded through the book and not abandoned it. But, I have been reading some really great books lately and the opportunity cost of spending another minute on this one was far too great.
What an interesting, engaging book.
In the throes of the Great Depression, the U.S. underwent a rise in crime, from bank robberies to kidnappings to murder, and the nation's law enforcement agencies were caught flat-footed. In some cases, corrupt law enforcement was in on it.
Enter the Bureau of Investigation, soon to become the FBI. But it wasn't as effective as the stories say.
You get the tales of Hoover and his jealousy, inept agents, brutality (from criminals and agents), and more.
Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, Machine Gun Kelly, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd - all of them and more were pulling their crimes at the same time and mostly in the same area, capturing the imagination - and admiration - of Americans.
What is also eye-opening is how most of the action was conducted by local law agencies - Dillinger was found by Postal investigators, and Bonnie & Clyde were taken out by Texas Rangers.
This is a well-researched book from an author that wrote another of my favorite true-crime books, Days of Rage, about anarchists on the loose in the U.S. in the 1970s.
In the throes of the Great Depression, the U.S. underwent a rise in crime, from bank robberies to kidnappings to murder, and the nation's law enforcement agencies were caught flat-footed. In some cases, corrupt law enforcement was in on it.
Enter the Bureau of Investigation, soon to become the FBI. But it wasn't as effective as the stories say.
You get the tales of Hoover and his jealousy, inept agents, brutality (from criminals and agents), and more.
Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, Machine Gun Kelly, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd - all of them and more were pulling their crimes at the same time and mostly in the same area, capturing the imagination - and admiration - of Americans.
What is also eye-opening is how most of the action was conducted by local law agencies - Dillinger was found by Postal investigators, and Bonnie & Clyde were taken out by Texas Rangers.
This is a well-researched book from an author that wrote another of my favorite true-crime books, Days of Rage, about anarchists on the loose in the U.S. in the 1970s.