Description:

Hoover J. Edgar

1st edition copy of Masters of Deceit: The Story of Communism in America and How to Fight It, signed by author J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972) as "J. Edgar Hoover" on the front fly leaf. Also personally dedicated in Hoover's hand "To C.D. De Loach, with warm personal regards, J. Edgar Hoover, 2 - 19 - 58". Published by Henry Holt and Company (New York), 1958.

Hardcover with red boards, gilt stamped spine and front cover, and without dust jacket. In near fine condition. Spine with a little corner rubbing. Isolated light foxing to back endpapers. The 8vo book measures 5.75" x 8.5" x .1.5" overall.

Master of Deceit runs 374 pages. It is divided into seven parts with sensational and fearmongering headings like: "Who is the Enemy?", "The Communist Appeal in the United States", and "The Communist Trojan Horse in Action". Hoover's explicit aim in writing the book was to inform. He wrote in the book's foreword: "Every citizen has a duty to learn more about the menace that threatens his future, his home, his children, the peace of the world -- ". Of course, the scarier the world, the more there was a need for the FBI and for Hoover's professional services.

Hoover published a number of books and articles under his name, although many now believe these were ghostwritten for him by bureau employees. Hoover's works explore crime-fighting, intelligence-collecting, and world political ideologies like Fascism and Communism. Masters of Deceit was very topical as it was published during the Cold War and on the heels of McCarthyism.

J. Edgar Hoover's name is synonymous with the intelligence agency that he helped found in 1935: the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The detective served as Director of the Bureau of Investigation (the FBI's predecessor) from 1924-1935, and as Director of the FBI from its inception until his death in 1972. While Hoover took many liberties with the information he collected, critics agree that he also built up, enlarged, modernized, and legitimized the agency.

Cartha Deckle De Loach (1920-2013) was Hoover's colleague and protegee. De Loach served as deputy associate director of the FBI until retiring in 1970. In 1995, De Loach published a memoir entitled Hoover's FBI: The Inside Story by Hoover's Trusted Lieutenant.

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