Presents a critical history of the FBI, from its origins in 1908 with three dozen investigators to the 27,000 staff members of today's agency. Examines the FBI's obsession with secrecy and argues that the agency has a long record of undermining political dissent and constitutional freedoms. Profiles major figures in the agency's history such as Charles Bonaparte and J. Edgar Hoover and discusses the FBI's responses various national crises.
