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True Stories from the Files of the FBI
Be the FBI Agent in training under J. Edgar Hoover and run the gauntlet of Machine Gun Kelly, Baby Face Nelson and the Barker Karpis Gang. Step back into downtown Chicago of the 1930s and retrace the steps of some of America's most notorious mobsters.
True Stories from the Files of the FBI was written by W. Cleon Skousen under the direct supervision of Mr. Hoover himself. These first-hand accounts of actual "do or die" situations were used for decades to train thousands of FBI agents.
In this riveting retelling of "G-men" arresting or killing perpetrators of the country's most violent crimes, learn how the investigations led to clues for the Charles Lindbergh kidnapping case, the Kansas City Massacre, the raids by John Herbert Dillinger and his gang, "Killer" Kinnie Wagner's murder spree, and more.
True Stories from the Files of the FBI was written by W. Cleon Skousen under the direct supervision of Mr. Hoover himself. These first-hand accounts of actual "do or die" situations were used for decades to train thousands of FBI agents.
In this riveting retelling of "G-men" arresting or killing perpetrators of the country's most violent crimes, learn how the investigations led to clues for the Charles Lindbergh kidnapping case, the Kansas City Massacre, the raids by John Herbert Dillinger and his gang, "Killer" Kinnie Wagner's murder spree, and more.
160 pages, Paperback
First published May 19, 2013
66 people are currently reading
331 people want to read
About the author
W. Cleon Skousen
151 books179 followersW. Cleon Skousen (1913-2006) was a popular teacher, lecturer and author in the United States for over 40 years. Born in Raymond, Alberta, Canada on January 20, 1913, Dr. Skousen’s growing up years were spent in Canada, Mexico, and California.
At age 17 he was called to serve a two-year, LDS mission to Great Britain for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He later attended college at the San Bernardino Junior College where he was elected Student Body President.
With scholarships and encouragements, he left California in 1934 to work as a government aid in Washington DC. Later Dr. Skousen applied and was hired as an FBI agent.
Dr. Skousen married his sweetheart, Jewel Pitcher of San Bernardino, California, August 1936. During the past 69 years, they have raised 8 children and are the grandparents of 50 grandchildren and over 69 great-grandchildren. He resided in Salt Lake City, Utah, the remainder of his life.
Dr. Skousen served the FBI for 16 years (1935-1951), and worked closely with J. Edgar Hoover. In 1951 he was asked to join the faculty of Brigham Young University. Here he headed up the Student Alumni organization. In 1956 he was asked to serve as Chief of Police of Salt Lake City. During his 4 year service, he also wrote his national best seller, "The Naked Communist." He also was the editor of the nations leading police magazine, "Law And Order." In 1960 he left the police force and began speaking tours around the country on the political crisis during that time period. He also ran for the governors office in Utah, but narrowly missed the primaries.
In 1967, Dr. Skousen returned to BYU as a professor in the Religion Department. He taught classes on The Book of Mormon, The Old Testament, and early LDS Church History. He continued that assignment until his retirement in 1978.
In 1972 Dr. Skousen organized a non-profit educational foundation, named "The Freemen Institute." Later changed to "The National Center for Constitutional Studies" (NCCS), Dr. Skousen and his staff became the nation’s leading organization in teaching seminars on the Founding Fathers and the U.S. Constitution. His book, "The Making of America" has been used nation-wide to educate students on the original intent of the Founders.
His many books and recordings include subjects from raising boys to principles of good government, to prophetic history. Listed in this web site are all the books and tapes which are still available today; Dr. Skousen shares a wealth of knowledge and optimism--a "diamond dust" of exciting history and eternal principles of hope, that calms the sea in today's stormy world of seemingly chaos and uncertainty.
Dr. Skousen passed away peacefully in his home on January 9, 2006, of natural causes incident to age, just 11 days shy of his ninety-third birthday. He was lovingly surrounded by his family and wife Jewel, with whom he was anticipating their 70th wedding anniversary in August. He will truly be missed by many.
At age 17 he was called to serve a two-year, LDS mission to Great Britain for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He later attended college at the San Bernardino Junior College where he was elected Student Body President.
With scholarships and encouragements, he left California in 1934 to work as a government aid in Washington DC. Later Dr. Skousen applied and was hired as an FBI agent.
Dr. Skousen married his sweetheart, Jewel Pitcher of San Bernardino, California, August 1936. During the past 69 years, they have raised 8 children and are the grandparents of 50 grandchildren and over 69 great-grandchildren. He resided in Salt Lake City, Utah, the remainder of his life.
Dr. Skousen served the FBI for 16 years (1935-1951), and worked closely with J. Edgar Hoover. In 1951 he was asked to join the faculty of Brigham Young University. Here he headed up the Student Alumni organization. In 1956 he was asked to serve as Chief of Police of Salt Lake City. During his 4 year service, he also wrote his national best seller, "The Naked Communist." He also was the editor of the nations leading police magazine, "Law And Order." In 1960 he left the police force and began speaking tours around the country on the political crisis during that time period. He also ran for the governors office in Utah, but narrowly missed the primaries.
In 1967, Dr. Skousen returned to BYU as a professor in the Religion Department. He taught classes on The Book of Mormon, The Old Testament, and early LDS Church History. He continued that assignment until his retirement in 1978.
In 1972 Dr. Skousen organized a non-profit educational foundation, named "The Freemen Institute." Later changed to "The National Center for Constitutional Studies" (NCCS), Dr. Skousen and his staff became the nation’s leading organization in teaching seminars on the Founding Fathers and the U.S. Constitution. His book, "The Making of America" has been used nation-wide to educate students on the original intent of the Founders.
His many books and recordings include subjects from raising boys to principles of good government, to prophetic history. Listed in this web site are all the books and tapes which are still available today; Dr. Skousen shares a wealth of knowledge and optimism--a "diamond dust" of exciting history and eternal principles of hope, that calms the sea in today's stormy world of seemingly chaos and uncertainty.
Dr. Skousen passed away peacefully in his home on January 9, 2006, of natural causes incident to age, just 11 days shy of his ninety-third birthday. He was lovingly surrounded by his family and wife Jewel, with whom he was anticipating their 70th wedding anniversary in August. He will truly be missed by many.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 22, 2016
This looks to be more of a 1940's propaganda piece for the F.B.I than anything else.
It's terribly inaccurate at times. At one point Skousen talks about a Nazi plot to invade the United States via South America. What? How?
He has a fairly creative mind, making up dialogues and actions supposedly carried out by criminals that either no one could've witnessed, or would've cared to report. He doesn't hesitate to use fiction to flesh out a story and lend it drama.
It's a silly book. Don't waste your time.
It's terribly inaccurate at times. At one point Skousen talks about a Nazi plot to invade the United States via South America. What? How?
He has a fairly creative mind, making up dialogues and actions supposedly carried out by criminals that either no one could've witnessed, or would've cared to report. He doesn't hesitate to use fiction to flesh out a story and lend it drama.
It's a silly book. Don't waste your time.
September 11, 2014
This was a infesting topic! It was full of facts and REAL CASES from the beginning of the FBI to high profile criminals( Baby faced Nelson, John Dillinger,to the Limburgh baby ransom!) to other major hits for FBI during the 1930s-1950s. It was a short E-book but it was a very fun read. If you are into true crime, for bad guys or good guys this is the book for you!
March 1, 2019
This book was not as exciting as I had hoped. And I fear that those who simply do not like Skousen, deliberately down-rate the book as 1 star or less. So be it. They are free to do as they will.
Few people have had the security clearance, connections, access, and understanding of the FBI, politicians, and politics as Cleon Skousen. Few have the morality and integrity he had too. He is a man whose honesty I do not question, and that from experience I've had in following him for many decades and studying his works and life.
That said, while this book does exactly what it claims to do, tell the true stories from the files of the FBI, that's pretty much all it does. It is one short story narration after another. It is interesting to listen to these stories and find out what happened and to whom, but it as a little "dry" for me. Maybe that's just me. I think perhaps I like stories told more in "story form" where you feel the excitement, question, doubt, feel the apprehension, etc. You feel like you're in the story. But with this book, it was more like reading one police report after another. Not much "story excitement" as i was hoping for. But like I said, maybe that's just me. Maybe it's a sick mind that wants horrible stories from the FBI files to play out more like movies in my head. My bad.
Still, the stories were interesting, and I did find myself looking up the people he talked about so I could put a real face to the names. Then I read up a bit more on those people and that was interesting as well!
I'd rather recommend something else though. I think Skousen's "The Naked Communist" would be a much better recommendation!
Few people have had the security clearance, connections, access, and understanding of the FBI, politicians, and politics as Cleon Skousen. Few have the morality and integrity he had too. He is a man whose honesty I do not question, and that from experience I've had in following him for many decades and studying his works and life.
That said, while this book does exactly what it claims to do, tell the true stories from the files of the FBI, that's pretty much all it does. It is one short story narration after another. It is interesting to listen to these stories and find out what happened and to whom, but it as a little "dry" for me. Maybe that's just me. I think perhaps I like stories told more in "story form" where you feel the excitement, question, doubt, feel the apprehension, etc. You feel like you're in the story. But with this book, it was more like reading one police report after another. Not much "story excitement" as i was hoping for. But like I said, maybe that's just me. Maybe it's a sick mind that wants horrible stories from the FBI files to play out more like movies in my head. My bad.
Still, the stories were interesting, and I did find myself looking up the people he talked about so I could put a real face to the names. Then I read up a bit more on those people and that was interesting as well!
I'd rather recommend something else though. I think Skousen's "The Naked Communist" would be a much better recommendation!
March 18, 2023
Easy reading
This is a great read. The books tells of the early days of the FBI during the 1920s and 1930s when gangsters reigned in the Plains and Southwest of the United States. I would have liked to.read about those cases that the FBI was unable to solve, but overall this is an excellent book with photos and other Momentos of the era.
This is a great read. The books tells of the early days of the FBI during the 1920s and 1930s when gangsters reigned in the Plains and Southwest of the United States. I would have liked to.read about those cases that the FBI was unable to solve, but overall this is an excellent book with photos and other Momentos of the era.
March 24, 2018
Interesting read on the history of the FBI and their early work to squelch the gangs of the 1930’s.
January 10, 2017
True Stories from the Files of the FBI by W. Cleon Skousen covers a few of the most high-profile cases the FBI solved in the 1930s. Chapters include an introduction to the early FBI (and before it was officially the FBI – the Bureau of Investigation), Kinnie Wagner, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the Kansas City Massacre, the Barker-Karpis gang, Dillinger, and “Baby Face” Nelson. As we lament the crime of today, we often forget that the gangsters kept law enforcement busy several decades ago with their crime sprees. Books like this one help us remember that past. Told with the somewhat cold detachment of an FBI agent, the stories are interesting, but have lots of names and details which are sometimes hard to keep straight. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the FBI or and those who enjoy reading true crime stories.
September 23, 2015
The book True Stories from the Files of the FBI by W. Cleon Skousen wasn't what I was expecting. By reading the summary, I thought it would be from the point of view of the FBI. Instead, the author switched back and forth with the majority of the stories being from the mobsters' point of view. The theme of one of the short stories, or one of the mobster's mottos was, "Be careful who you talk to, you can't trust everyone." Some of the things that I did like about this book was the way the author described how the FBI was started and the more famous cases they participated in solving. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone that is into nonfiction books or crime that took place In the 1930's.
July 26, 2016
"True Stories from the Files of the FBI" starts out with a wonderful foreword by Paul B. Skousen, which set the tone for the entire book. The detail in the first section, Introduction to the FBI, was well done. I really got a good understanding of how the FBI was run by J. Edgar Hoover. The sections on each of the cases were an easy read. Although it lacks some description the fact these are true stories more than makes up for it. I highly recommend this book to all ages looking for a good "True Crime" book.
September 26, 2013
This is an interesting book that give the basics about the FBI. It starts with the history of how and why it was founded, what they investigate, forensics, etc. There are short stories on they first and most important cases like the Kansas City Massacre. While it is interesting, it is definitely for the novice who knows very little about the FBI. If would interest middle grade students and up.
October 8, 2013
This book made me feel like I was back in time really working for the FBI. What made it interesting is how you read about past criminals, major crimes, and how they caught those criminals. Also you read about how the FBI evolved into how the function now.
December 17, 2014
This was a good book to get background on the history of the FBI and how the current system works. It's a good history refresher on some of the cases you heard about or read about really panned out and ended for the criminal. It's a good history lesson for those interested in true crime.
October 8, 2013
This was a very good book because it took me into the cases of the FBI and it kept me interested throughout the whole book. I also enjoyed the fact that he explained how the people were tracked and captured and also he explained the people that he worked with during this time.
July 5, 2014
I found this book to be interesting although some parts made it a little hard to read. I believe this was made as an instruction manual for agents of the FBI. I learned more about the cases of the FBI than I knew before!
September 16, 2015
Duplication
The stories in this e-book, while interesting, were somewhat confusing do to duplication of sentences and paragraphs throughout the book. Having not read the print version, I don't know if this occurs in it too, or just the e-book version.
The stories in this e-book, while interesting, were somewhat confusing do to duplication of sentences and paragraphs throughout the book. Having not read the print version, I don't know if this occurs in it too, or just the e-book version.
June 19, 2015
The book was more of a brief biography of some of the mob bosses of the 30s and 40s. I was expecting it to read more like a detective style book, most everything is told from the view of the mobbers.
February 6, 2016
Interesting read
E.asy and entertaining read. Interesting part of history how and why the FBI was started. New details you won't hear elsewhere.
E.asy and entertaining read. Interesting part of history how and why the FBI was started. New details you won't hear elsewhere.
February 11, 2016
Liked
Keeps your attention all throughout the book. Very interesting to see how the FBI works so diligently on any case they become involved with.
Keeps your attention all throughout the book. Very interesting to see how the FBI works so diligently on any case they become involved with.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews