The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI (2024)

This book was about a mile wide and an inch deep; it covered a wide breadth of topics, but didn't cover any of them in any great detail. It also veered off on tangents and into very ancillary topics. The book wasn't bad per se, but I was hoping for better.

Extremely biased. The author documented the history like a gossip column writer for a woman’s magazine. It’s not a piece of scholarly historian work. It isn’t even up to the standard of solid objective documentary work.

Don’t mistake it as either. Read it for fun and with an open & critical mind. In this age of fictionized non fiction, it is still worth of a read. It’s biased, gossipy, but it still feels like nonfiction. A great accomplishment when journalism writing is all about plot & story structure & etc

good book to read after comey. middle of the book was a bunch of smut that seemed slightly respectable because it was supposedly historically accurate, but in the end, i thought the book was a good read to understand the machinations of individuals who influence government agencies.

Obviously very anti-Louis Freeh. In fact by the end that seemed like the entire point of the book. Still good reading for someone who is interested in the FBI, though.

Pretty good. The history of the creation of the Bureau and its early history are especially interesting. Other books such as Puppet Master by Richard Heck have provided a more detailed history, but Kessler does a decent job of showing how Hoover's ability to manipulate the media/public perception of the Bureau and create the image not only with the public but Congress of the Bureau being the premier law enforcement agency. This is impressive considering early on, agents could only enforce a handful of laws and were initially not able to make arrests or carry guns. The book also reviews Hoover's use of sensitive political information to hold power, the author does not present it as blatant blackmail, but shows how several Presidents were likely coopted by being offered sensitive information, that then made less able to remove Hoover.

The review of the Freeh years is decent, but similar to the Kessler's earlier book, which focused on Sessions' tenure, Freeh is presented as all bad, and although good points are made (especially about his desire to micro-manage) it does not appear to be an even handed analysis.

Also, much of the book is taken directly from his earlier book. If you have read the earlier book, you can skip large portions of this book. I understand that the other is 10 years old, so there would be some overlap, but many anecdotes and events are taken word for word from the earlier book; it makes this book often feel like just a more recent edition of the older book.

The last section on the Bureau since 9/11 is disappointing. Much of this section comes across as apologist and does not offer much detail or analysis of the reasons or effectiveness of new policies. Much of it appears to be focused on diminishing FBI's culability for 9/11.

This book was a:
3 for interest, historical relevance and thorough reporting
2 for writing style/clarity

Really interesting stuff, and you can tell Kessler was well-placed as a journalist to get access to all kinds of documents and interviews other writers may not have. While I wouldn't say this history was unbiased (Kessler had an annoying tendency to editorialize and repeat his opinions on the aspects of the FBI or directors he especially liked or disliked), it did present a picture that was neither completely positive nor negative.

One difficulty I had was keeping all the people straight - Kessler would introduce 4-6 characters in two paragraphs, spend the next few pages talking about only a couple of them, then make scattered mentions of the rest in the following pages. It made for a lot of flipping back and forth.

Kessler also didn't do too nuanced a job writing about women and minorities, though if I wanted a well-written history/analysis of race and gender in the FBI (or any other gov't institution, for that matter), I wouldn't choose this book.

Ultimately, I learned a lot from this book, but the knowledge only added more questions to wrestle with regarding the balance between national security and individual/civil rights.

"The Bureau" is an excellent and well researched book that explores the history, culture, and people of the FBI. While it is dated by a few, and very eventful, years it remains the best comprehensive primer on the FBI. This book is even handed and bolstered by unprecedented access to secretive organizations. "The Bureau" and "The FBI", also by Mr. Kessler, are similar, but "The Bureau" is much better written, more up to date, and includes a more in depth and interesting look at the FBI under the directorship of J. Edgar Hoover. The author's previous research on the FBI led to the dismissal of one of the FBI's Directors for abusing his official position, so it is difficult to accuse Mr. Kessler of being an apologist for the Bureau. All in all, it is sober account that lays bare the FBI's darker moments as well as the important work the Bureau does every day to keep Americans safe from mass murderers, organized crime syndicates, foreign intelligence agencies, and terrorist networks.

Given current events, this history of the FBI as an organization and its historical relationship with the presidency and Justice Department is particularly timely. While everyone knows of J Edgar Hoover and his excessive paranoia, I didn't know of subsequent directors, especially the ones who were fine administrators and set up structures and policies which have made the Bureau reliable and justice-oriented.

The book isn't for the squeamish, especially chapters on profiling and serial killers, and sometimes Kessler seems to be distracted by his own relationship with the Bureau, defending his reporting, rather than sticking to a chronological narrative. But it seems like an extensive, well-researched work.

The book begins with the appointment of Mueller, the current special counsel investigating Trump's administration, so there isn't as much about him, except that he is portrayed as a straight-shooting, justice-oriented, hardworking guy in pursuit of truth above all.

This book was a slogger for me. Took me months to read (when I normally finish a book in a week). Not my typical fare. Parts of it were very interesting (ie: the history of the formation of the FBI and its direction under Hoover, and the final chapters, re: 9/11) Parts of it I had to force myself to read (ie: most of the information about director Freeh, which seemed to be the author's main focus: how the bureau suffered under his direction. Those parts read like a lot of gossip mongering.) Was stunned about halfway through to read how up until the 2000's the FBI had useless outdated computers and no decent technology. That they solved any cases at all with their antiquated equipment is astounding.

i had read accounts of how the CIA and military were learning to share tools for intelligence, esp. Human intelligence (Humint.) before I read Fair Game by Valerie Pflame, the NOC that Cheney and his crew outed. That made the shift between Patraeus and Gates make sense.

This book gives a similar history and account of FBI changes over time and funding. I was puzzled by some of parts of topics he left out, then I saw how many books he had written and that he is coming from a neocon point of view. Nevertheless, I learned quite a bit from it.

If all this is accurate and it appears to be, our country is in sad shape when it comes to trusting the FBI. It is disconcerting. Freeh should have been prosecuted for his mismanagement. It is scary how people that are in charge of protecting the public are so inept. Read this book for an eye opening account of corruption in our "protective service ". Hold on to your hats it's going to get a lot worse in the next four years.

From the Hoover years to current FBI. I'm breazing through this book like no other. Detailed info on many infamous blunders like the handling of Waco. Early years FBI where they couldn't carry firearms up to the modern FBI with modern approaches to criminology and inside the mind of many of the most ruthless killers in America.

A well written, fascinating book, I was amazed at the history of the F.B.I., of some of its current practices, and the courage of those who are F.B.I. agents. The author shows that foibles and misdeeds of past F.B.I. directors, the strengths of the current F.B.I. director, and the benefits and blessings that those who work in the agency provide for United States citizens.

The dark side of the FBI. Mr. Kessler has a point of view that is quite critical of the organization.

As for history, it appears to omit as much as is included.

However, as noted, it is a good starting point for someone not familiar with the history, accomplishments and shortcomings of the organization.

I still like a few chapters reading The Bureau but the book has been a great read. I highly recommend it to anyone that would like to learn more about the FBI. Covering J. Edgar Hoover, Watergate, spy cases, Waco, Ruby Ridge and so many other things. I highly recommend the book.

I just started reading this book (after hearing the author interviewed on "Morning Edition") and I love it!!!! Will probably finish this one relatively quickly. Of course, I'm reading it for my second Spies class hopefully being taught in the spring.

Pretty good consolidated history. The author went from start to finish detailing not only major historical events, but also detailed history of the Directors. He spent almost half the book on Hoover which was fascinating. Another great read!

The history of the FBI is very interesting. Most Americans don't realize how the FBI has shaped our government. So far it's proving to be an interesting read.

Read in 2005

A bit disjointed, so hard to really become immersed in it.

Kessler is probably the source to get a good run down. His book on the CIA is great too.

This is a great reading of the history of the FBI, but as anyone knows, a history of the FBI is mostly a biography of J. Edgar Hoover

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Information about the Federal Bureau of Investigation from before it was the FBI. The books follows J. Edgar Hoover's time as Head of the FBI all the way to the 2000's. It was interesting how the Bureau took on the characteristics of its head. Under Hoover it was made up of all men in dark suits and white shirts, no women and no minorities. He kept index card files on everyone that he learned anything unlawful or sinful about. Plus if he suspected them of being communist. Everyone in D.C. was afraid of him. He had a "friend" who he gave a job to in the Bureau. They did not live together, but took their meals together and traveled extensively together. He was head of the FBI for 50 years. After he left, they instilled term limits for that position. FBI gradually hired women agents and minorities. Book talks about Sessions as Head of FBI and how he did everything his wife wanted..she had access to the whole building, brought friends in all the time, they both used the airplane for personal trips. The final Head discussed at length because he pretty much ran the FBI into the ground was Louis Freeh who micromanaged the FBI into the ground. He wanted all recognition for himself and actually took it away from the deserving agents. Plus, Freeh did not see a need to upgrade computers or even have one for each agents.
One thing I found interesting is Hoover didn't see Mafia unlawfulness as an FBI responsibility. The Head after him changed that and started clamping down on Mafia Don's.
Interesting book....slow at times. I learned a lot!

Kessler wrote a director-level history of the Bureau, noting the flaws and strengths of each director. He seemed to argue that each director was worse than the previous one, until Mueller.

Kessler's writing wasn't always smooth - there were numerous times that vignettes showed up that didn't serve the narrative Kessler happened to be telling.

Kessler also had too much of a eye for the salacious - considerable space was devoted to recounting in careful detail, then disproving, the charge that Hoover was a cross-dresser, and the swinging habits of spies were carefully detailed.

Dear Friends,

I did not read this book or add it to my shelf. Something's screwy and I've notified GoodReads. Hopefully we can get find out what happened and why this book appeared with three others on my shelf and in my update status feed.

Thanks for your patience, while I track this down.

Faith Justice

super entertaining, insane stories. great to denaturalize/demystify government and its humans. gets wack at the end tho, pro-surveillance state n shi

Good author! Wrote about some obscure situations, though. Didn't enjoy it as much as his other books, ,though.

One of the best inside books on the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

An interesting account of J E Hoover's FBI and latter including 9/11.