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The Burglary
- The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot, Betty Medsger
- Length: 25 hrs and 32 mins
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The Burglary
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Summary
The never-before-told full story of the history-changing break-in at the FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, by a group of unlikely activists - quiet, ordinary, hardworking Americans - that made clear the shocking truth and confirmed what some had long suspected, that J. Edgar Hoover had created and was operating, in violation of the U.S. Constitution, his own shadow Bureau of Investigation.
It begins in 1971 in an America being split apart by the Vietnam War. A small group of activists - eight men and women - the Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI, inspired by Daniel Berrigan's rebellious Catholic peace movement, set out to use a more active, but nonviolent, method of civil disobedience to provide hard evidence once and for all that the government was operating outside the laws of the land.
The would-be burglars - nonpro's - were ordinary people leading lives of purpose: a professor of religion and former freedom rider; a day-care director; a physicist; a cab driver; an antiwar activist, a lock picker; a graduate student.
Betty Medsger's extraordinary book re-creates in detail how this group of unknowing thieves scouted out the low-security FBI building in a small town just west of Philadelphia, taking into consideration every possible factor.
At the heart of the heist - and the book - the contents of the FBI files revealing Hoover's "secret counterintelligence program" COINTELPRO, set up in 1956 to investigate and disrupt dissident political groups, a plan that would discredit, destabilize, and demoralize groups, many of them legal civil rights organizations and antiwar groups that Hoover found offensive - as well as black power groups, student activists, antidraft protestors, conscientious objectors.
The Burglary is an important and riveting book, a portrait of the potential power of non-violent resistance and the destructive power of excessive government secrecy and spying.
Critic reviews
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Hannah P.
- 15-07-22
What a story!
I learnt so much, very powerful stuff, highly recommend. Very well researched, written and read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jenni
- 17-04-15
A true story that will get you mad.
This is the original conspiracy story. It will have you saying "no" quite often. Truth is more stranger than fiction here and it is scary to know that leaders that are so powerful can be so off the wall.
Read brilliantly, I listened more than once because the story matter is mind blowing!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- michael roberts
- 09-02-15
A Precis would be good
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
The basic story is interesting, important and fascinating but the mountains of irrelevant detail, repetition and circumlocution means that this book is only for those who really have nothing better to do.
What will your next listen be?
It might be a book on J Edgar Hoover - this certainly was not one.
What didn’t you like about Betty Medsger and Bronson Pinchot ’s performance?
The writing is agonizingly prosaic and uninteresting despite the subject matter which in other hands would be a cracking story. Bronson is only as good as the material.
You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?
No - apart from the underlying story
Any additional comments?
No
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