Enemies
by Tim Weiner
- Percentage of approved critics who have given this book a positive review.
Critic Rating
63%
Critic Reviews: 20
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- User rating from iDreamBooks & iTunes
Reader Rating
81%
Reader Ratings: 147
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Synopsis
Enemies is the first definitive history of the FBI's secret intelligence operations, from an author whose work on the Pentagon and the CIA won him the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. We think of the FBI as America's police force. But secret intelligence is the Bureau's first and foremost mission. Enemies is the story of how presidents have used the FBI as the most formidable intelligence force in American history. Here is the hidden history of... more
About Tim Weiner
Published: February 14, 2012 by Random House
Genre: History, Political & Social Sciences. Non-fiction. 560 pages
- All Critics: 20
- Positive: 13
- Negative: 7
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The Guardian | 30 Mar 2012
Leaving Hoover's alleged personality disorders to Hollywood scriptwriters, Weiner focuses his efforts instead on refuting a series of misperceptions about the FBI. . .
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Los Angeles Times | 22 Feb 2012
. . .a sweeping narrative that is all the more entertaining because it is so redolent with screw-ups and scandals.
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The New York Times | 30 Mar 2012
Weiner. . .has done prodigious research, yet tells this depressing story with all the verve and coherence of a good spy thriller.
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The New York Times | 14 Mar 2012
. . .an outstanding piece of work, even-handed, exhaustively researched, smoothly written and thematically timely.
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Kirkus Reviews | 1 Feb 2012
A sober, monumental and unflinchingly critical account of a problematic institution.
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The Washington Post | 23 Mar 2012
. . .the book also gives ample evidence that the bureau broke the law for decades out of a genuine desire to keep the nation safe.
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The Telegraph | 20 Feb 2012
Its role as a crime-fighting agency is ignored, so readers expecting to find stories about Al Capone will be disappointed.
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Los Angeles Review of Books | 8 May 2012
. . .Weiner didn't need to take up the question of whether. . .Hoover was gay. But he did. . .Weiner seems to think that, because there's no evidence that the two actually had sex, you can't call their relationship "homosexual."
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History News Network | 16 Apr 2012
For as experienced a journalist as Weiner. . .to enliven his text with melodramatic descriptions of Hoover’s (and others) supposed feelings is surprising.
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Publishers Weekly | 20 Jan 2012
If sometimes disorganized Weiner’s narrative is an important, judicious account of the tension between national security and civil liberties.
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The Globe and Mail | 20 Mar 2012
Weiner adeptly mines Washington’s archives to tell the story of the FBI as a domestic spy agency.
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Mother Jones | 18 Apr 2012
. . .Enemies leaves the reader with the impression that today's FBI is more effective and less lawless than it's ever been. This is no doubt true. But given that once-illegal activity has become legal, it's less comforting.
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San Francisco Chronicle | 26 Feb 2012
"Enemies' " weakness is not what was written but what was omitted. . .it leaves a gap in understanding the agency's culture, which undoubtedly does value the rule of law.
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Boston.com | 4 Mar 2012
. . .extensively researched, admirably understated, yet terrifically entertaining book. . .
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Christian Science Monitor | 10 Apr 2012
. . .a compelling and chronological read which could have been improved with better transitions and connections between episodes.
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The Daily Beast | 14 Feb 2012
. . .an exciting and fast-paced narrative that focuses on the bureau’s perennial enemy, the Fourth Amendment, and civil liberties generally.
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Booklist Online
A skilled and fair writer, Weiner resists the temptation to portray FBI officials as thugs with badges.
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The Wall Street Journal | 14 Feb 2012
. . .Mr. Weiner's work is grounded in assiduous research and is the more compelling for it.
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The New York Times | 30 Mar 2012
Weiner...has done prodigious research, yet tells this depressing story with all the verve and coherence of a good spy thriller
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The New York Times | 14 Mar 2012
The last third of “Enemies” is well-worn territory...this leads to a decidedly uneven narrative; just as there is almost nothing in the book about the 1930s, the 1980s are left aside except for a single long interview...
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