Master of Deceit: J. Edgar Hoover and America in the Age of Lies (edition 2012)

I also read Marc Aronsen’s Master of Deceit, a teen biography of J. Edgar Hoover. Aronsen is a master of narrative fiction, and I thought the way he tried to show two sides to every story was great. For interested teens, this could be a really good discussion book. I did catch some bias on his part, which he addresses more explicitly in the afterword. I didn’t actually know much about J. Edgar Hoover before reading this, but I now I feel quite well informed.

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A probing, insightful examination of the life and career of a notorious and complicated individual. Aronson does an excellent job of separating the facts from the myths about Hoover. He astutely draws parallels between past and present events, and raises many provocative and challenging questions for readers to consider. Hoover emerges from this book as a tragic character, one whose insatiable craving for power and control led to corrupt and lawless acts undermining his accomplishments in crime fighting and national security. ( )

Reason for Reading: I know all about this history but I love the time period and was interested in how it would be rendered in a young adult book and whether it would show any bias, either way.

This is a book about very bad people. First, communists, a political group of mass murderers who have killed more of their own people than any single tyrant has killed in wars or holocausts in the entire history of the world. Second, a fanatic, a man who was an absolute fanatic and was given power, so much of it he became the most powerful man in America, in some decades even more so than the president. J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI was the fanatic and the Russian government were the Communists.

Aronson must be congratulated on presenting both sides of this coin as fairly as has ever been done in my reading. What writer can prove each side to be right without showing his own bias? Aronson almost gets away with it. He explains why the anti-communist, fanatical, black & white Hoover thought and did the things he did and said and you'll make you get mad. He explains the communist position on anti-capitalism and why it was attractive to working Americans and who could blame them and he'll make you get mad. Both opinions are expressed with such clarity on issue after issue throughout the entire book, but each time it is counteracted with the opposing view and Aronson leads a small trail of truth through the swampy history of lies. Aronson almost gets away with not being biased but he very early on lets the cat out of the bag that he, himself is coming from the "Left". In the opening paragraph he states "Communism and anti-Communism are just terms that appear on tests, like the Whig, Greenback, or Know-Nothing parties." Excuse me???? Has the author heard of China??? Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam?? The poor souls of these countries are fighting communism every day of their lives and being arrested, tortured and killed for anti-communist activities.

Further on Aronson makes a blooper when he states "For years after the September 11, 2001, attacks, Fox News ran alert levels on its TV crawlers, reminding everyone to be scared, to be afraid." I turned to the "Notes" section for clarification on this but nothing was mentioned. I sure don't ever remember Fox News crawlers with the words "Be Scared. Be Afraid." Somebody doesn't like Fox News methinks.

Anyway onto the book, which the author has stated in his notes at the end he has written for highschoolers. Great insight into this time period of our history. Into the terrible evils of Communism and what it does to people, their freedoms and abilities to simply lead basic normal lives. It also brings out the life of J. Edgar Hoover, the fanatic. A man who had a sense of right and wrong but for whatever reasons he became fanatical about them. While some of the things he believed in were good and decent such as democracy, capitalism, taking care in one's appearance he took them to such heights he became a dictator in his own little world. He also became a tyrant and his sense of right and wrong became skewed and turned into racism and discrimination. Unfortunately, he had power, he had "the goods" (illegally obtained) on the right people and that kept him where he was and there he stayed until he died peacefully in his sleep after 40 years on the job. Aronson is able to bring this side of Hoover to light while at the same time dispelling all the ludicrous myths that have perpetuated about him especially to the modern day, where most people believe them to be true. Hoover was not gay, he did not dress in women's clothing, he did not have a life long male partner as a "lover". The man probably never had sex in his life and this puts him in all sorts of situations that can be crassly misinterpreted to make him seem to be the one thing he was not. Aronson does explore the other rumour that Hoover may have had African-American blood in his family heritage and while not provable unless direct desendents step up to settle the issue once and for all, the author does make a case for it's possibility.

I enjoyed the book very much, read it over two sittings and found myself immersed in this frightening period of history. Communism was something to fear and it still is today. Freedom to live our lives as we see fit is one of our unalienable rights. However we should never fear anything so much that we allow one person to fantatically control how the issue is handled. Every group or person in power must be policed by others. The only thing I didn't like about this book was Aronson's equating communism with civil rights with homosexuality with the women's movement. Sometimes we just morally know what is right and what is wrong and it has nothing to do with fear. I think I may have written an opinon piece on the topic instead of a review but at least I guess that means you can tell I enjoyed the book. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the book to adults who know nothing of the topic. ( )

Description:

Master of Deceit is a detailed account of the life, times, and "crimes" of J. Edgar Hoover from the 1920's to the 1960's. Special attention is given to Hoover's creation and directing of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as his impact on the future of the United States.

Review:

High school U.S. History classes definitely left out a few facts about J. Edgar Hoover - at least mine did. What I already knew: Hoover created the FBI; what I didn't know: he ran the FBI - or variants of it - from the presidency of Coolidge (1924) through Nixon (1972), and during that time was known to use illegal methods to gain information. Master of Deceit is an eye-opener and an excellent research resource into the life and career of Hoover and his organization. Marc Aronson has written a biography full of fascinating facts and stories supplemented with over 100 images. I like the format, the short chapters, the large array of images, and the overall set-up/timeline. At ~230 pages, it is long enough to convey all the facts in an interesting manner, but short enough to encourage reading and comprehension. It's easy-to-read, fast-paced, and has a really great notes section and bibliography; I especially liked reading the author's note about his extensive research. I learned a lot of surprising information, particularly about political figures, but Aronson's goals are clear - as stated in the epilogue, "Master of Deceit shows that we must always question both the heroes we favor and the enemies we hate. We must remain openminded..." There is always more than one side to every story, and the author's research is well documented. This book is directed towards teenagers, but I highly recommend this book to both teens and adults interested in Hoover or the FBI, or readers looking for their next non-fiction fix. This is also a great companion to the new movie J. Edgar, a film about Hoover's career.

Rating: On the Run (4/5)

*** I received this book from the author (Candlewick Press) in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. ( )

Aronson uses Hoover and his work at the FBI as a lens to view America from the 1920s-1960s and the themes he develops can clearly be used to view post 9/11 America. The country's history and the decisions those in power have made are complex and can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Aronson offers multiple reads of history and doesn't shy away from difficult realities as those writing for young adults do sometimes.
As I as reading and learning, the text prompted me to think about the story being told about history as it is influenced by who is doing the telling and the ways that we look at the past through the lens of the present.
I'm anxious to take a look at this book when it is out in print. I had a pre-pub ebook which didn't have all the pictures and the layout wasn't set. The book definitely inspired me to do further reading and research. ( )