G-Man (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century

By: Beverly Gage

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

Winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Biography

Winner of the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography, the 2023 Bancroft Prize in American History and Diplomacy, and the 43rd LA Times Book Prize in Biography | Finalist for the 2023 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography

Named a Best Book of 2022 by The Atlantic, The Washington Post and Smithsonian Magazine and a New York Times Top 100 Notable Books of 2022

“Masterful…This book is an enduring, formidable accomplishment, a monument to the power of biography [that] now becomes the definitive work”—The Washington Post

“A nuanced portrait in a league with the best of Ron Chernow and David McCullough.”—The Wall Street Journal

A major new biography of J Edgar Hoover that draws from never-before-seen sources to create a groundbreaking portrait of a colossus who dominated half a century of American history and planted the seeds for much of today's conservative political landscape.

We remember him as a bulldog—squat frame, bulging wide-set eyes, fearsome jowls—but in 1924, when he became director of the FBI, he had been the trim, dazzling wunderkind of the administrative state, buzzing with energy and big ideas for reform. He transformed a failing law-enforcement backwater, riddled with scandal, into a modern machine. He believed in the power of the federal government to do great things for the nation and its citizens. He also believed that certain people—many of them communists or racial minorities or both—did not deserve to be included in that American project. Hoover rose to power and then stayed there, decade after decade, using the tools of state to create a personal fiefdom unrivaled in U.S. history.

Beverly Gage’s monumental work explores the full sweep of Hoover’s life and career, from his birth in 1895 to a modest Washington civil-service family through his death in 1972. In her nuanced and definitive portrait, Gage shows how Hoover was more than a one-dimensional tyrant and schemer who strong-armed the rest of the country into submission. As FBI director from 1924 through his death in 1972, he was a confidant, counselor, and adversary to eight U.S. presidents, four Republicans and four Democrats. Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson did the most to empower him, yet his closest friend among the eight was fellow anticommunist warrior Richard Nixon. Hoover was not above blackmail and intimidation, but he also embodied conservative values ranging from anticommunism to white supremacy to a crusading and politicized interpretation of Christianity. This garnered him the admiration of millions of Americans. He stayed in office for so long because many people, from the highest reaches of government down to the grassroots, wanted him there and supported what he was doing, thus creating the template that the political right has followed to transform its party.

G-Man places Hoover back where he once stood in American political history—not at the fringes, but at the center—and uses his story to explain the trajectories of governance, policing, race, ideology, political culture, and federal power as they evolved over the course of the 20th century.

©2022 Beverly Gage (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY

Winner of the New-York Historical Society’s 2023 Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize

Winner of the Organization of American Historians 2023 Ellis W. Hawley Prize

Winner of the 43rd Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Biography

Finalist for the 2023 ABA Silver Gavel Award in Books, the 2023 Mark Lynton History Prize, and the Biographers International Organization 2022 Plutarch Award

The New York Times "TOP 100 NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2022"

The Atlantic "Top 10 Books of the Year"

The Washington Post "Top Ten Books of 2022"

Publishers Weekly * "Top Ten Books of 2022"

Smithsonian Magazine "The Ten Best History Books of 2022"

"Revelatory...an acknowledgment of the complexities that made Hoover who he was, while charging the turbulent currents that eventually swept him aside."—The New York Times

“[A] crisply written, prodigiously researched, and frequently astonishing new biography”—The New Yorker

“Gage’s penetrating account of Hoover’s career, especially his many long-eclipsed triumphs, offers a well-timed and sobering perspective as yet another institution in our fractured country struggles to maintain trust.”—The Atlantic

Brilliant analysis.

This is by far the most important biography of Hoover to ever be published. A masterpiece.

A fascinating story about a complex man

This is a fascinating story about a complex man, well worth the time to listen to it. The reader does a great job too.

Compelling portrait of America’s most influential and powerful bureaucrat

A well written, well narrated, frankly epic biography of the man who managed to stay in power at the head of the FBI from the 1920s to 1970s. It is fair and objective about his flaws and excesses as well as about his skill in building a professional national law enforcement service.

Well researched

The book covers many years of American history and is well balanced in its analysis of a complex figure of American culture.

Pretty good for a looong biography

I am surprised I was able to finish this audio book, which at more than 36 hours, is one of the longest books I have ever listened to. It was actually even longer for me because I found it helpful to listen at 80 percent of normal speed. I felt the narrator talked too fast for my liking. If you are expecting lots of exciting gun battles and gripping accounts of investigations like you might see in a TV show, this is probably not the book for you. This is not that kind of book. Part of what makes this story interesting is the sweep of history it encompasses, from the Palmer Raids of the 20s, to the Red Scare years and McCarthyism, the Civil Rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr. all the way up to the beginnings of Watergate. Hoover does not come out looking very good, but overall it makes for pretty interesting biography.

Fact is far stranger than fiction

super good. so glad to have spent time with this book. whether you love or hate j edgar hoover, you will wrestle with those sentiments throughout this work. i think he loved his job and to that only was he devoted. fascinating man.

Extraordinary achievement

Riveted throughout the book by its astonishing revelations.
Superb and balanced history of a complex and powerful man.

G-man Review

As someone who knew very little about Hoover before reading this book, I thought that it provided a comprehensive and engaging account of both his own life as well as the institutional life of the FBI. The book was read well and managed to keep my attention throughout, with lots of fascinating facts. The one thing that put me off was the deep fascination the author had over Hoover’s sexuality and his relationship with Tolsen. I get that it’s an important detail, but also felt that the author focused on it to the point of magnifying it throughout. Highly recommend this book in audio format.

The pace of this book is 🔥

Amazing book, stunning details, and excellent pace.
I have read this book and listened to the audio version.
Gorgeous telling if history
!! Important Guide here !!

20th Century American History Must Read

Breathtaking. A political insider’s account of most of the 20th century US history, it augmented and changed my perspective of the republican/democratic parties, civil rights, kkk, mlk, kennedys, vietnam, nixon, etc etc. As the man behind 8 presidents, JEH participated in and influenced so much that can’t be fully appreciated without digging into his life. Also- time is a flat circle. We’re watching in today’s politics echos of what JEH was a part of 70 years ago. Definitely a great perspective to help understand today. Wow. Enjoy.