In anticipation of the FBI's centennial this summer, prolific author and law enforcement veteran Holden (To Be an FBI Special Agent ) has produced a work for general readers on the ever interesting and controversial history of this primary investigative agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. The book may be defined as an unofficial history, but Holden was granted access to current agents and to the FBI's photo archive to produce a work profusely illustrated with about 300 photographs of equipment, FBI activities, and agents and criminals in action, all of which will fascinate. Chapters cover the early years when Teddy Roosevelt was President, J. Edgar Hoover's long tenure as director, his role in blacklistings and McCarthyism, the pursuit of organized crime, spies, the use of domestic surveillance, and standoffs gone bad. Some of the popular touches include movie posters and comic strips. The book includes all of the FBI's "10 Most Wanted Fugitives" lists and ends with a list of the 51 special agents who died in service, a brief chronology, and definitions of acronyms and abbreviations. Those looking for more critical discussion of the bureau may want to examine Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones's The FBI: A History , but this book will have appeal in both public libraries and specialized collections.—Daniel K. Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL