Public Enemies

By: Bryan Burrough

Narrated by: Campbell Scott

The astonishing true story of America's first and greatest "War on Crime."
In Public Enemies, Bryan Burrough strips away a thick layer of myths put out by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI to tell the full story of the most spectacular crime wave in American history, the two-year battle between the young Hoover and an assortment of criminals who became national icons: John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the Barkers.
In 1933, police jurisdictions ended at state lines, the FBI was in its infancy, and fast cars and machine guns were easily available. It was a great time to be a bank robber. On hand were a motley crew of criminal masterminds, sociopaths, romantics, and cretins.
Bryan Burrough has unearthed an extraordinary amount of new material on all the major figures involved -- revealing many fascinating interconnections in the vast underworld ecosystem that stretched from Texas up to Minnesota.
But the real-life connections were insignificant next to the sense of connectedness J. Edgar Hoover worked to create in the mind of the American public-using the "Great Crime Wave" to gain the position of untouchable power he would occupy for almost half a century.©2004 Bryan Burrough; (P)2004 Simon & Schuster Inc. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Must listen

This is just excellent. Exciting and insightful. Wonderful book.

Interesting book

Unique insight into the origins of the FBI and how luck played a large part in it... good and bad

Great book

I’d love this book. I to like the writer got stories from my father about Dillinger. My father lived in Indianapolis and his dad had a cottage in Spencer so driving past the Dylan farm was not an uncommon thing. Also I grew up in the area of Little Bohemia lodge. Dillinger has always peaked my interest. This book was great to read and know how all the gangs intertwined with each other. Very informational, and very interesting. I recommend it to anyone with or without interest of any of the public enemies.

Well done! Great book, well read!

loved it! I powered through it! Perfect history book! Great bad guys, good guys getting their footing before being an equal match!

Needs a full version

The book itself was interesting and entertaining, but the audio version cuts out way too much of the story. It skips through various figures and times without clear breaks. Still, this is a good intro to the American War on crime and the early days of the FBI.