J. Edgar Hoover—the most powerful lawman in America for more than fifty years—was also the country's most controversial and feared public servant. His career as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation spanned nine different presidential administrations. During that time, Hoover completely reshaped domestic law enforcement, transforming his G-men into an elite national crime fighting division. Despite his contributions to the criminal justice system, Hoover fell from favor soon after his death, the victim of rampant rumors and innuendo. In Puppetmaster, Richard Hack separates truth from fiction to reveal the most hidden secrets of Hoover's private life and exposes previously undisclosed conduct that threatened to compromise the security of the entire nation. Based on files, documents, and over 100,000 pages of FBI memos and State Department papers, Hack rips the lid off Hoover's façade of propriety to detail a life replete with sexual indiscretions, criminal behavior, and a long-standing alliance with the Mafia.