Criminal Non-Fiction in Public Enemies: book review

From Bryan Burrough, a former Wall Street Journal reporter currently associated with Vanity Fair, comes the story of an era of crime which many journalists referred to as the 'Public Enemy' era which led to the formation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The title refers to the term 'public enemy,' first coined by  Frank J. Loesch, chairman of the Chicago Crime Commission in April 1930, to publicly ridicule notorious gangster Al Capone. Since then, the term has been widely used by the FBI and journalists to describe criminals, outlaws and rebels. Long before J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of FBI, used it to describe numerous most-wanted criminals they were pursuing throughout the 1930s, such criminals were John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, Ma Barker, and Alvin Karpis.     The book gives a true account of the incidents that took place during  the 1930s caused not only by unemployment, but also because of an availability of machine guns and fast cars, which benefited the criminal masterminds. The absence of a solid law enforcment and acting body made their 'jobs' no less difficult.     J. Edgar Hoover, a man of controversies who occupied the position of director of the FBI from 1935 to his death in 1972, served the longest term in the history of the FBI. In the book, Hoover faces the challenge of creating the FBI and catching various fugitives including John Dillinger, Public Enemy number 1. Dillinger was a bank robber who was mentored by criminal Walter Dietrich, in prison. Dillinger broke out of prison and used Dietrich's methods to rob banks and make off with huge sums of money which could enable him to arrange a prison break for his former fellow prisoners and partners in crime. Hoover hired Melvin Purvis to catch Dillinger.  Purvis finally succeeded in capturing Dillinger at The Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago on July 22, 1934 only to incite a gunshot in which Dillinger was killed.     What distinguishes this book from any other non-fiction book is its statistics, pictures of the entire newly created FBI staff dealing with the crime wave, pictures of the fugitives  and maps which detail the criminal histories of the above mentioned criminals.  The book is no less gripping and thrilling than any other fiction criminal or mystery novel. Burrough, who grew up in the 'Public Enemy" era, takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through the 1930's hardcore crime wave challenges and hardships, faced by The Bureau of Investigations which triggered the much needed formation of the FBI and its initial inability to cope with armed and skilled criminals, sociopaths as the author called them.  The book is highly recommended for lovers of crime fiction.