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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 took a little while to get into this. The audio narrator has a rather flat voice and at first, it just seems like a litany of names. But once you get familiar with all the people he's talking about, his flat voice works for the content - makes it very "film noir." Overall, a well-done discussion of the truth about some of the gangsters of the era, and the struggles within the FBI to get off the ground and be effective as a law enforcement agency. Gets a little bogged down by details at certain points, but anyone who is interested in the subject may appreciate that exhaustive treatment.
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
I didn't realize how crazy Hoover's War on Crime was until I read this book. Yes, the movie "Public Enemies" is loosely based on this book. The book however goes in detail about many criminals and does not just focus on Dillinger. Of course Dillinger is the most well known criminal of the early 30s so his is the main story. Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie & Clyde, the Baker-Karpis Gang and many others are covered ... and in detail. Some of the stories are exciting, but some are just depressing. Interesting stuff, though. I really liked it + I learned a lot which is always a plus!
challenging
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
Very good non fiction about a bunch of low lifes. Terrible movie was made.
Fantastic read. It was paced like a novel. Very cool to think that all those characters you'd see in movies actually existed and existed all at the same time!
I really liked this book. MUCH better than the film. It does cover a lot of the main criminals at once, but the organizational method is time, so Burroughs basically works down the line as he talks about Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, Machine Gun Kelly, etc. This is really a good story about the FBI and you can't beat the research he did. Burroughs is also a pretty talented writer.
Very interesting. Did not know how much crime was committed in one calendar year by all the famous bank robbers.
A great read about the crime wave of 1933-1934. Burrough paints a vivid picture of the crime lords-John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Ma Barker and her boys, Machine Gun Kelly-that lived during that time as well as the time that they lived and died in. You also get an idea of how the FBI first started under Hoover-G-Men who were not issued guns and were required to wear shirt and ties.
slow-paced