First published 2012
Seth Rosenfeld examines how the FBI orchestrated covert operations against three pivotal figures who shaped the tumultuous Berkeley campus conflicts of the 1960s. The book centers on ambitious politician Ronald Reagan, passionate student leader Mario Savio, and liberal university president Clark Kerr as they navigate the charged atmosphere of campus unrest. Rosenfeld documents the bureau's extensive surveillance program, which included illegal break-ins, infiltration tactics, fabricated news stories, and poison-pen letter campaigns targeting the university community. The investigative reporter reveals how J. Edgar Hoover's friendship with Reagan influenced these operations, ultimately fueling the protest movement while simultaneously undermining Democratic opposition and advancing Reagan's political career. Drawing from over 300,000 pages of previously classified documents that the FBI spent more than $1 million attempting to suppress, Rosenfeld constructs a detailed account of government overreach during a pivotal moment in American history.
Genres: history, 20th-century, crime, biography-memoir, investigative-journalism, activism, academia, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, political-intrigue
Setting: Berkeley
Period: 1960s
752 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux