The Burglary Audiobook By Betty Medsger cover art

The Burglary

The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Burglary

By: Betty Medsger
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot, Betty Medsger
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $39.95

Buy for $39.95

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

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.

©2014 Betty Medsger (P)2014 Audible Inc.
History & Theory Human Rights Intelligence & Espionage Law United States Espionage
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"[I]mpeccably researched and elegantly presented.... The current debate in America over government surveillance of its citizenry has a long and controversial history. It didn't begin on 9/11, and it doesn't need technological wizardry to succeed. For those seeking a particularly egregious example of what can happen when secrecy gets out of hand, The Burglary is a natural place to begin." (The New York Times)

What listeners say about The Burglary

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    250
  • 4 Stars
    114
  • 3 Stars
    50
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    12
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    244
  • 4 Stars
    90
  • 3 Stars
    40
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    7
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    244
  • 4 Stars
    89
  • 3 Stars
    40
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    7

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Just a tad wordy

Exceptional story but could have been told in a more succinct way. Still a fascinating look into the inner workings of Hooves FBI!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Rendition

So many of us have forgotten about the Media burglary and what it accomplished. This tells it in an exciting manner that leaves you riveted.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Interesting topic poorly written

When I read the summary I wanted to listen right away but despite a promising topic, the way it is written and the information chosen was very disappointing; boring at times, I even stopped listening, read another book and then returned not to leave unfinished.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting

The book could have had a better narrator, but the story was really interesting. Great to hear some stories from the parties involved in the media burglary.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating!

I could not stop listening to this book; I think I finished all 25 hours of it within 4 days. Betty Medsger provides a full and well articulated account of the 1971 burglary of an FBI office, what led up to it and its repercussions including the FBI's investigation of the incident, as well as biographies of those who participated. She leaves no stone unturned as she explores J. Edgar Hoover's almost 50 year tenure as head of the FBI during which he remained unquestioned as he maintained continuous spying and harassment operations on American citizens in an effort to squelch dissenting opinions, increase paranoia, halt any threat to the FBI's secrecy, and to fight the efforts of the movements for civil rights, anti-war, and any other political opinion he disagreed with. She illustrates how Hoover used any means necessary to continue his mission, constantly flouting the laws of the land and blackmailing any member of government (including presidents) who stood in his way from conducting the FBI as he pleased. The Burglary is an incredible depiction of this event and the ripples from it that still affect America today. I couldn't recommend it more.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An eye opener!!

This should be required reading in today's school system. It is a beautifully written book which proves that absolute power corrupts absolutely UNLESS this power is governed by a democratic society.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Storytelling

Goes into character detail to understand what made each do something this bold and risky.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Amazing and revealing story. Narration annoying.

That the FBI building is named after J. Edgar Hoover is a travesty. Hoover was a bigot of the first order. His paranoia about "hippies" and "the left" skewed justice away from important matters to the Hoover's political predilections, which were right wing to say the least.

Much of it is reminiscent of today's extremists in the Republican party, who want to investigate anything that isn't straight from the propaganda of Fox. We need more hard facts and less junk conspiracies. This book shows what can happen when fairness and competence are not abundant. The age of "influencers" and "social media have introduced an element of outrageousness (and celebrity) into our once thriving, respected edia landscape.

Read the book. The narrator is such an amateur and talks as though he's reading a story to 4 year olds. Really awful!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting but not outstanding

It continues to amaze me that Hoover was kept as Director for all those years and that no one had the courage to dislodge him even though he threatened 'blackmail'. Too bad, he certainly ruined the reputation of law enforcement in the U.S. This book seems to be one that would benefit from editing. Nonetheless, it is a worthwhile book and seems to be more honest than most of its type. It would have benefitted from more personal information about Hoover.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Reader needs to research ...

.... How to pronounce the last names of some of those involved in the story and be consistent throughout. For example: there's no excuse for not knowing how to pronounce "Boehner" when, at the time of recording, the man was the Speaker of the House of Representatives and in the news on a daily basis. Also, after saying "Kleindienst" (Kl-eye-n ' deenst) correctly the first time, he then proceeds to say it incorrectly every time thereafter.

While this may seem picky to many, it was very annoying to me. After hearing the author read the Afterword, I wish she had read the whole fascinating book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful