THE BUREAU The Secret History of the FBI

Raymond Todd's clear voice and upbeat reading wear well over this lengthy look at our nation's top law enforcement agency. A veteran investigative journalist, Kessler takes the FBI from its beginnings in 1908 to the aftermath of September 11. Not a scandalous detail is overlooked, from J. Edgar Hoover's alleged cross-dressing to the spy Robert Hanssen's dalliance with a stripper. The emergence of profiling, the recruitment and training of agents, the investigation (or not) of organized crime, and the effectiveness (or not) of various directors are all explained in a manner that keeps one's attention. The brief attempts at accents (JFK's Bostonian, for example) don't add much. A guide to what's covered on each CD printed somewhere in the graphics would help. J.B.G. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB / MAR 03]