The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide

(Hardback)

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Description

The FBI is romanticized, feared, criticized and admired. Because of its strong impact on American public life, it is the focus of interest and research by students and professionals studying history, politics, law, criminal justice and law enforcement. This is a complete reference work on this powerful organization. This new guide focuses on the history, role, powers, influence, organization, people and cases of the FBI. Organized into ten subject-defined sections, each with its own table of contents, this work is readable from cover to cover, as well as useful for reference look-up of specific topics. A selected annotated bibliography is also included, as is an appendix giving key statistics on staff sizes and appropriations since 1908.

Reviews

As a general reference source for university and law libraries, this book is a necessity....it is full of useful facts and information and is liberally sprinkled with charts, graphs, and illustrations....Another useful feature is the detailed table of contents on each individual chapter title page. It would be invaluable for someone wanting to know more about the origins, history, and inner workings of this legendary law enforcement organization....Recommended as a reference book.-Journal of Government Information
As its title claims, this work is comprehensive, with ten chapters by four scholars who have all contributed significantly to previous works about this fascinating agency ....lavishly illustrated....Highly recommended for all libraries.-CHOICE
Editor Theoharis and contributors Tony Proveda, Susan Rosenfeld, and Richard Powers provide a balanced look at this sometimes secretive agency....There is no other reference book that covers the FBI in such detail. This would be an extremely useful volume for high-school, public, and academic libraries.-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
This readable reference guide to the Federal Bureau of Investigation does not disappoint....it is visually appealing and packed with information. Highly recommended for all reference collections.-Library Journal
"As its title claims, this work is comprehensive, with ten chapters by four scholars who have all contributed significantly to previous works about this fascinating agency ....lavishly illustrated....Highly recommended for all libraries."-CHOICE
"Editor Theoharis and contributors Tony Proveda, Susan Rosenfeld, and Richard Powers provide a balanced look at this sometimes secretive agency....There is no other reference book that covers the FBI in such detail. This would be an extremely useful volume for high-school, public, and academic libraries."-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
"This readable reference guide to the Federal Bureau of Investigation does not disappoint....it is visually appealing and packed with information. Highly recommended for all reference collections."-Library Journal
"As a general reference source for university and law libraries, this book is a necessity....it is full of useful facts and information and is liberally sprinkled with charts, graphs, and illustrations....Another useful feature is the detailed table of contents on each individual chapter title page. It would be invaluable for someone wanting to know more about the origins, history, and inner workings of this legendary law enforcement organization....Recommended as a reference book."-Journal of Government Information

Author Bio

ATHAN G. THEOHARIS is nationally recognized as a leading authority on the FBI. He served as a consultant in 198081 to the National Archives Task Force on FBI Records and in 197576 as a consultant to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities, and he has testified frequently before Congress on electronic surveillance policy, federal records policy, and the Freedom of Information Act. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the FBI, including Spying on Americans: Political Surveillance from Hoover to the Huston Plan, From the Secret Files of J. Edgar Hoover, The FBI: An Annotated Bibliography and Research Guide, and The Boss: J. Edgar Hoover and the Great American Inquisition. Theoharis is currently writing a history of the FBI covering the period from 1939 to 1956. He is a professor of history at Marquette University. TONY G. POVEDA is a professor of sociology at the State University of New York, Plattsburg, where he served as chair of the sociology department and coordinator of the criminal justice program. He is the author of Lawlessness and Reform: The FBI in Transition and Rethinking White Collar Crime and has published numerous scholarly articles. For the past 20 years, his research has focused on the crimes of large organizations, including corporations and government agencies. Poveda received his doctorate in criminology from the University of California at Berkeley. SUSAN ROSENFELD was appointed as the FBIs first official historian in 1984 and held this position for almost nine years. Previously, she taught at Cornell, Georgetown, American, Howard, and Virginia Commonwealth Universities and worked for the National Archives analyzing the FBI, Watergate, and other government investigatory records. Rosenfelds writings include: the entry on J. Edgar Hoover in Scribners Dictionary of American Biography, a brief history of the FBI, a history of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, and numerous articles. Currently she is writing a book on the history of U.S. government surveillance. RICHARD GID POWERS is a professor of history at the College of Staten Island and the Graduate School of the City University of New York, where he also directs the American Studies Program. His writings on the FBI include Secrecy and Power: The Life of J. Edgar Hoover, G-Men: Hoovers FBI in American Popular Culture, and Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. He is currently writing a history of the FBI.