A G-Man's Journal

Rating:
Summary: Interesting read, a bit cluttered
Review: I know and work with Buck Revells' brother Dennis and Dennis told me that it was a good read. I knew that if Buck had his brothers integrity and analytical thinking process, that this indeed would be a good read. I was not disappointed. This book gives an excellent insight into the FBI, which given the number of times Buck & Sharon Revell moved stands for Forever Being Inconvenienced. Good facts about the cases involved but not too much given away. It is a good "guys read", fast paced with detail it never gets boring. I enjoyed this and can whole-heartedly recommend it to all.

Rating:
Summary: A view of the FBI from the top
Review: In this breathtakingly fascinating book, Oliver "Buck" Revell, who rose to the hightst job in the FBI, gives what is perhaps the most insightful overview of America's war on crime, espionage and terrorism in the last 30 years. It is a story of legendary exploits and munerous encounters with the most hardened criminals and killers, a meteoric rise to the highest levels in the FBI from where for 11 years Revell spearheaded the reorganization and modernization of the Bureau, and directed all criminal and counter-intelligence operations. The unvarnished praise and criticism of the inner workings of the FBI make for both fascinating reading and provide a historical perspective for such controversial issues as congressional corruption (ABSCAM), the Martin Luther King investigation, the paranoia of Hoover's power, the Savings and Loan scandals, American involvement with the Shah of Iran, the PanAm bombing, the COINTELPRO (counter-intelligence program) and BRILAB (labor racketeering) investigations and Branch Davidians among others. The book covers the timespan from the Kennedy assassination to the Oklahoma City bombing. For 11 years, unde rtwo Directors, Revell served as Deputy Director in charge of the Investigations and Counterintelligence Divisions and as FBI representative on the National Security Council. Revell is one of the most highly decorated FBI agents. Revell's foremost accomplishment was in the reorgainzation of the FBI under Director Clarence Kelley, when he helped throw out what he calls "rediculously rigid rules" and slashed the hamstringing bureaucracy. He prioritized organized crime, counter-terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering and forged ties with Interpol and leading police organizations around the world. A former Marine pilot, Revell describes one heart-breaking predicament when he flew the first helicopter mission searching for a kidnaped young girl, while his own son lay critically ill in the hospital. His superiors urged him to rush to his son's bedside, but, like on many other occasions, Revell asked his wife Sharon to handle the emergency and kept searcning until he found the girl's body in a Kansas field. Although Revell reveals how his career burdened his family life, it only tells in bits and pieces the story of how an extremely dedicated FBI wife had to cope. Revell praises Hoover for forging the premier law enforcement agency in the world while severely criticizing him for his arbitrary and capricious leadership in his latter years. He narrates what Hoover told him about John and Robert Kennedy's orders to bug Maritn Luther King for possible manipulation by Soviet intelligence. He praises Director William Webster for his probity, but laments the unethical stewardship of William Sessions as FBI Director. Revell reveals how upon becoming Director, Louis Freeh packed the uppermost echelons of the FBI with his cronies. Revell is highly critical of Louis Freeh" leadership of the FBI. Revell's epilog recommends a long range plan to reorganize and improve law enforcement in the U.S. He deplores the "dysfunctional montage of 140 Federal agencies functioning in spearate and often counterproductive spheres of responsibility." Revell calls for the creation of a Federal Department of Law Enforcement to coordinate Federal efforts to combat the new Evil Empire-international crime. This is a must read for anyone interested in how the FBI really works.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting Information With Revealing Insight
Review: It is an informative novel which gives exciting insight into one of the most famous law enforcement agencies of America. Not only learning about the cases that Oliver Revell worked on, but knowing how others in the FBI, including J. Edgar Hoover, thought and said is purely fascinating. This is a must read to anyone interested in the FBI, law enforcement, or federal government agencies.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting read, a bit cluttered
Review: Revell, in this co-authored book, believes in the philosophy "never say in 350 pages what you can say in 570."
The events are apparently purely chronological, and almost stream-of-consciousness. There's a lot of jumping from subject to subject, with little transition or unifying theme. While the book has a bibliography and index, it's lacking a glossary, which would be helpful for those of us who don't use acronyms like OSG, JSOC, CSG, and CISPES on a daily basis.
The book would be less cluttered if there wasn't a compulsion to include every incident in which Revell wished to claim credit, or rebut an allegation of misconduct against him. For instance, the liner notes claim that Revell "participated in ... the JFK assassination [investigation]." It turns out Revell wasn't even in the FBI at the time; he was a Marine who was liaison to FBI agents who were interviewing Marines who had known Oswald during Oswald's Marine service.
It is an interesting account of agent Revell's career, and FBI history and lore, mainly from within the FBI bureaucracy looking down, and contains some almost-hidden nuggets of insight on personalities and events you probably won't find elsewhere.
Read _No Heroes_ by Danny O. Coulson for a street agent perspective on many of the same events.

Rating:
Summary: Revell's A G-Man's Journal
Review: The nice thing about freedom of speech is that it helps one to learn the truth. I recommend this book for a well written viewpoint and a non-abusive style from the former Assistant Director of the FBI (with the help of Dwight Williams). Presumably his "nemesis" under Clinton, Director Freeh, has a book written by himself somewhere, and it will only be fair to compare the versions of the two books. In fact, I think that an outstanding Management Course could be made by assigning Revell's book, Freeh's book (or future book - I don't know if it exists), and Bonanno's book giving one of the more enlightened Mafia viewpoints (see my review of the latter). Revell appears to have been an outstanding manager from this book, and some readers may not understand why. Revell has a military type discipline viewpoint with an exceptional respect for justice and fairness rather than firing senior employees arbitrarily or because of political orders or downsizing attempts. It's the type of discipline that Field Marshall Montgomery had (see my review of his book), and to some extent General Eisenhower. Whether he violated law for patriotic reasons I do not know, and whether he is right about Freeh's motivations - that, only comparisons between sources of evidence can reveal. His strong opinion that J. Edgar Hoover was not a homosexual is quite interesting, since Great Britain has found for example that freedom of speech without respect for the public can lead to very erroneous conclusions, innuendoes, etc. As for Bonanno, his idea that the Mafia should not sell dope is quite an honorable proposal (it seems to me).

Rating:
Summary: Revell's A G-Man's Journal
Review: The nice thing about freedom of speech is that it helps one to learn the truth. I recommend this book for a well written viewpoint and a non-abusive style from the former Assistant Director of the FBI (with the help of Dwight Williams). Presumably his "nemesis" under Clinton, Director Freeh, has a book written by himself somewhere, and it will only be fair to compare the versions of the two books. In fact, I think that an outstanding Management Course could be made by assigning Revell's book, Freeh's book (or future book - I don't know if it exists), and Bonanno's book giving one of the more enlightened Mafia viewpoints (see my review of the latter). Revell appears to have been an outstanding manager from this book, and some readers may not understand why. Revell has a military type discipline viewpoint with an exceptional respect for justice and fairness rather than firing senior employees arbitrarily or because of political orders or downsizing attempts. It's the type of discipline that Field Marshall Montgomery had (see my review of his book), and to some extent General Eisenhower. Whether he violated law for patriotic reasons I do not know, and whether he is right about Freeh's motivations - that, only comparisons between sources of evidence can reveal. His strong opinion that J. Edgar Hoover was not a homosexual is quite interesting, since Great Britain has found for example that freedom of speech without respect for the public can lead to very erroneous conclusions, innuendoes, etc. As for Bonanno, his idea that the Mafia should not sell dope is quite an honorable proposal (it seems to me).