Master of Deceit: J. Edgar Hoover and America in the Age of Lies

Aronson, Marc. Master of Deceit: J. Edgar Hoover and America in the Age of Lies.  Candlewick Press, New York: 2012. 230 pages. Tr. $25.99 ISBN 9780763650254

Annotation

Master of Deceit is a biography of the first director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover and how he contributed to the emotional turmoil of the Cold War and the terror Communism might take root in America.

Review

Master of Deceit is an unbiased portrait of an incredibly smart, driven, and powerful man, J. Edgar Hoover.  Aronson explains how Hoover’s intelligence and ambition led him to become the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Hoover’s job was to protect America from Communism and in doing that Hoover had no qualms lying to supervisors or turning to blackmail.  Hoover did get results and helped keep America safe during the Cold War, but a part of how he did that was by creating a state of fear and paranoia.  One of America’s criticisms of Russia was that they forced their citizens to live in a state of fear, encouraging family and friend to report on one another.  Despite being completely anticommunist Hoover used some of the same tactics here in American in an effort to root out communist spies.  Hoover and the FBI were also behind much of Senator McCarthy’s crusade against Communism.  Eventually, the FBI came under fire for Hoover’s clandestine projects and files, but most of Hoover’s actions as head of the FBI were not revealed until after his retirement. 

Awards/Honors

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Front and Back Matter

TOC, Prologue, Epilogue, How I Researched and Wrote this Book, Notes, Bibliography, Image Credits, Acknowledgments

Author’s Website

http://www.marcaronson.com/