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

"King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. . . . You better take it before your filthy, abnormal, fraudulent self is bared to the nation."

Dr. Martin Luther King received this demand in an anonymous letter in 1964. He believed that the letter was telling him to commit suicide. Who wrote this anonymous letter? The FBI. And the man behind it all was J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI's first director.

In this unsparing exploration of one of the most powerful Americans of the twentieth century, accomplished historian Marc Aronson unmasks the man behind the Bureau- his tangled family history and personal relationships; his own need for secrecy, deceit, and control; and the broad trends in American society that shaped his world.

Hoover may have given America the security it wanted, but the secrets he knew gave him - and the Bureau - all the power he wanted. Using photographs, cartoons, movie posters, and FBI transcripts, Master of Deceit gives readers the necessary evidence to make their own conclusions. Here is a book about the twentieth century that blazes with questions and insights about our choices in the twenty-first.

From a Kirus Starred Review:

In fascinating detail, Aronson tells the story of America during J. Edgar Hoover’s reign as head of the FBI and “the nearly fifty years of criminal activity that was his legacy.”
For today’s students, Communism and anti-Communism are “just terms that appear on tests, like the Whig, Greenback, or Know-Nothing parties,” but this volume brings alive the drama of the Cold War period and demonstrates its significance for readers now. Taking his title from Hoover’s 1958 work on the dangers of Communism, Aronson writes about the dangers of a “security at all costs” mentality during the Cold War and, by extension, our post-9/11 world. He covers a large slice of history—the Palmer raids of 1919, the gangster era, the Scottsboro case, World War II, the Rosenbergs, Joseph McCarthy, the civil rights movement and Watergate—but this is no mere recitation of the facts; it’s a masterpiece of historical narrative, with the momentum of a thrilling novel and the historical detail of the best nonfiction. With references as far-flung as Karl Marx, Stalin, Wordsworth, American Idol, The Hunger Games and The Lord of the Rings, this is as much about how history is written as it is about Hoover and his times. Extensive backmatter includes fascinating comments on the research, thorough source notes that are actually interesting to read and a lengthy bibliography.
Written with the authority of a fine writer with an inquiring mind, this dramatic story is history writing at its best. (Nonfiction. 14 & up)

Award-winning author Marc Aronson available as guest expert on J. Edgar Hoover.

Planning a segment on the new Hoover biopic starring DiCaprio?

Movie buzz is heating up and there will be lots of controversy about how this powerful figure in American history is depicted. Aronson's upcoming book, Master of Deceit: J. Edgar Hoover and America in the Age of Lies is scheduled to release in early 2012.

Master of Deceit brings readers up on the latest insights into J. Edgar Hoover, including never before published photos that help answer key questions:

What were Hoover's secrets?

* Was he a closeted gay? Aronson says probably not

* Did he cross-dress? Aronson says no

* What was his relationship with Clyde Tolson? Aronson says, really interesting--including that they dressed identically for a decade

* Why does Hoover matter? Aronson says because he was in power for 48 years -- half of the 20th Century, and his example is a key warning for us now

* Why was he so prejudiced against African-Americans? Aronson says possibly due to secrets in his own family

* Who gave Hoover the OK to pursue "subversives" without congressional approval? Aronson says FDR

About the author: Marc Aronson has a doctorate in American history and is a member of the graduate faculty in the library school at Rutgers. He is an editor and author of many award-winning books including War Is . . . Soldiers, Survivors, and Storytellers Talk about War, which he co-edited with Patty Campbell; Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert; and Sir Walter Raleigh and the Quest for El Dorado, the first Sibert Medal winner. Marc Aronson lives in New Jersey.

“In researching and writing this book I learned to trust myself — to speak out even when everyone else seems to share a different view. Hoover silenced dissent both within the FBI and in American society. But so too did the Communist Party. The evil was never on one side — it was in silence.” — Marc Aronson