G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century

Beverly Gage's biography of J. Edgar Hoover, "G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century," won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography 2023, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography 2022, the Bancroft Prize for American History and Diplomacy 2023, the American History Book Prize 2022, and was shortlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography 2023. Gage's book chronicles Hoover's rise to power, his use of state tools to create a personal fiefdom, and his conservative values, which won him the admiration of millions of Americans. It also sheds light on significant social and political changes in 20th-century America, from policing and civil rights to political culture and ideology.

Format: Hardback
Length: 864 pages
Publication date: 30 March 2023
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography 2023

Winner of the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography

Winner of the 2023 Bancroft Prize in American History and Diplomacy

Winner of the American History Book Prize

Shortlisted for the 2023 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography

When he became director of the FBI in 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was a dazzling wunderkind buzzing with 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 – did not deserve to be included in that American project.

In her nuanced and definitive portrait, Beverly Gage charts Hoovers rise to power, as he used the tools of state to create a personal fiefdom unrivalled in U.S. history. Hoover was not above blackmail and intimidation, and his conservative values ranged from white supremacy to a crusading and politicized interpretation of Christianity. But he was more than a one-dimensional tyrant who strong-armed the country into submission. As FBI director for almost fifty years, he was a confidant, counselor, and adversary to eight U.S. presidents, four Republicans, and four Democrats. His conservative values won 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 he has done more to shape the political right today than many presidents.

G-Man places Hoover back where he once stood: at the centre of American political history.

In telling his story, Gage shines a light on the complex and controversial figure who has left an indelible mark on American history.

Weight: 1118g
Dimension: 168 x 242 x 60 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780857201058