Sample
  • Public Enemies

  • America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34
  • By: Bryan Burrough
  • Narrated by: Campbell Scott
  • Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (268 ratings)

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.

Public Enemies

By: Bryan Burrough
Narrated by: Campbell Scott
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.99

Buy for $14.99

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.
activate_WEBCRO358_DT_T2

Publisher's summary

In Public Enemies, Bryan Burrough strips away a thick layer of myths put out by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI to tell the full story of the most spectacular crime wave in American history, the two-year battle between the young Hoover and an assortment of criminals who became national icons: John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the Barkers.

In 1933, police jurisdictions ended at state lines, the FBI was in its infancy, and fast cars and machine guns were easily available. It was a great time to be a bank robber. On hand were a motley crew of criminal masterminds, sociopaths, romantics, and cretins.

Bryan Burrough has unearthed an extraordinary amount of new material on all the major figures involved, revealing many fascinating interconnections in the vast underworld ecosystem that stretched from Texas up to Minnesota.

But the real-life connections were insignificant next to the sense of connectedness J. Edgar Hoover worked to create in the mind of the American public, using the "Great Crime Wave" to gain the position of untouchable power he would occupy for almost half a century.

©2004 Bryan Burrough (P)2004 Simon & Schuster Inc. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The definitive account of the 1930s crime wave....[Burrough] successfully translates years of dogged research, which included thorough review of recently disclosed FBI files, into a graceful narrative....This book compellingly brings back to life people and times distorted in the popular imagination by hagiographic bureau memoirs and Hollywood." (Publishers Weekly)
"Fascinating..." (The New York Times)
"A colorful history of the mobile, heavily armed, self-glamorizing desperadoes called forth by the Depression and of the government's response, organized by the rigid, brilliant, incorruptible and ultimately creepy J. Edgar Hoover." (The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about Public Enemies

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    139
  • 4 Stars
    75
  • 3 Stars
    42
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    113
  • 4 Stars
    56
  • 3 Stars
    17
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    108
  • 4 Stars
    53
  • 3 Stars
    24
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3

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

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Must listen

This is just excellent. Exciting and insightful. Wonderful book.

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

Well done! Great book, well read!

loved it! I powered through it! Perfect history book! Great bad guys, good guys getting their footing before being an equal match!

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

Interesting book

Unique insight into the origins of the FBI and how luck played a large part in it... good and bad

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

Great book

I’d love this book. I to like the writer got stories from my father about Dillinger. My father lived in Indianapolis and his dad had a cottage in Spencer so driving past the Dylan farm was not an uncommon thing. Also I grew up in the area of Little Bohemia lodge. Dillinger has always peaked my interest. This book was great to read and know how all the gangs intertwined with each other. Very informational, and very interesting. I recommend it to anyone with or without interest of any of the public enemies.

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

Good listen....!

The books goes into most of the gangsters from that era, not just Dillinger. I thought it would have detailed more of Dillinger's life, but it was interesting to hear about some of the other gangsters as well, but not what I thought or like the movie at all.

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
    4 out of 5 stars

Very good broad overview; enjoyable.

I loved it! only problem is it was too short. Good quick hit overview on the subject however. Would definitely recommend to someone who has interest but doesn't need all the drawn out specific details.

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

One of the Best

I love this book when I read it years ago. I love this book when I read it again. still I love this book hearing it read to me is fantastic. I listen while I drive because I don't have time anymore to read as much as I would like to. decided to go ahead and purchase this on audible just to see how it was. definitely not disappointed

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

Need the unabridged version

A book like this is fascinating, but I learned my lesson with previous purchases: wait for the unabridged edition!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

46 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Too Abridged

Great stories, but I have a feeling that the unabridged version offers more insight into Hoover and the personalities and politics behind the FBI. The abridged version is mostly the gangster tales - very exciting stuff but it lacks the insight that I am sure Burrough meant to communicate. See Michael Mann's movie if you want shootemup stories and wait for the unabridged version if you want the whole story!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

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

You will not be disappointed

I enjoyed the audiobook, and would actually listen to it again. So if the sections I would rewind just to hear it again. I thought it was pretty accurate. Would recommend.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!