This “penetrating and remarkable history of the FBI” examines its operations and development from the Reconstruction era to the 9/11 attacks (M. J. Heale, author of McCarthy's Americans). In The FBI, U.S. intelligence expert Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones presents the first comprehensive portrait of the vast, powerful, and sometimes bitterly criticized American institution. Setting the bureau’s story in the context of American history, he challenges conventional narratives—including the common misconception that traces the origin of the bureau to 1908. Instead, Jeffreys-Jones locates the FBI’s true beginnings in the 1870s, when Congress acted in response to the Ku Klux Klan campaign of terror against black American voters. The FBI derives its character and significance from its original mission of combating domestic terrorism. The author traces the evolution of that mission into the twenty-first century, making a number of surprising observations along the way: that the role of J. Edgar Hoover has been exaggerated and the importance of attorneys general underestimated; that splitting counterintelligence between the FBI and the CIA in 1947 was a mistake; and that xenophobia impaired the bureau’s preemptive anti-terrorist powers before and after 9/11.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a national agency dedicated to investigation federal crimes. Founded as a small team of special agents on July 26, 1908, the Bureau was first charged with enforcing the growing body of federal laws covering the United States as a whole. Almost from the beginning of its 100-year history, the Bureau has been the subject of legend and controversy. It has also evolved into a vast and sophisticated national law-enforcement agency. Whether as a federal crime-fighting force or a source of investigative support of local and state police forces, the modern FBI strives to embody its ideals of fidelity, bravery, and integrity. The story of the FBI is really the story of the United States as it changed through the 20th century and into the 21st. As the nation grew, both in size and wealth, the Bureau's powers grew with it. Two world wars brought new demands on the FBI to protect Americans. From the gangster era and crime networks, through political scandals and civil rights, to cyber-crime and terrorism-this book shows how the FBI has played a role in U.S. history for 100 colorful years.

Traces the FBI's journey from fledgling startup to one of the most respected names in national security, taking you on a walk through the seven key chapters in Bureau history. It features overviews of more than 40 famous cases and an extensive collection of photographs.

Presents the history of the FBI's secret intelligence operations, detailing how the bureau has been used to conduct political warfare, and how it became the most powerful intelligence service in the United States.

Most people believe the Federal Bureau of Investigation began under J. Edgar Hoover in the 1920s or 1930s. Many also naturally assume it was developed for the express purpose of fighting crime. However, the reality is very different. The reality is it began years earlier, in 1908, under President Theodore Roosevelt. In The Birth of the FBI: Teddy Roosevelt, the Secret Service, and the Fight Over America's Premier Law Enforcement Agency, Willard Oliver details the political fight that led to the birth of America’s premier law enforcement agency. Roosevelt was concerned about conservation and one issue he wanted enforced were the fraudulent land deals being perpetrated by many people, including some members of Congress. When he began using the Secret Service to investigate these crimes, Congress blocked him from doing so. The end result of this political spat was Roosevelt’s creation of the FBI, which heightened the political row between the two branches of government in the final year of Roosevelt’s presidency. The truth of the matter is, the premier law enforcement agency in the United States was actually created because of a political fight between the executive and legislative branches of government. The Birth of the FBI reveals the true story behind the birth of the FBI and provides some useful insight into an important part of our American history.

FBI 100 Years chronicles the Bureaus successes and failures from its early days as Teddy Roosevelt's trust-busting detective force to the increased emphasis on counterterrorism the post 9/11 world. Along the way, Holden revisits the gangster era and the days of McCarthyism, the unmaking of the Mob, and the disastrous standoffs at Ruby Ridge and Waco. The famous and the infamous make their appearances in the story, colorful characters such as John Dillinger and "Machine Gun" Kelly, J. Edgar Hoover and turncoat spy Robert Hansen. With added features including an exploration of the 200 categories of federal crimes that fall within the Bureaus purview, all the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives lists since the first in 1949, and an entertaining look at the FBI in popular culture, this is the most thorough and authoritative book ever written about the principal law enforcement arm of the United States Department of Justice.

On the heels of 9/11, historian Powers shows how the FBI has arrived at a critical juncture and why its future has become gravely imperiled.