When John Steinbeck published "The Grapes of Wrath"in 1939- -- it generated a whirlwind of controversy . Some -- including J.Edgar Hoover and his FBI - -believed Steinbeck was a communist. The FBI files, many meaningless, cost Steinbeck a commission as an officer in the Army during World War Two. By the 1940s, John Steinbeck believed the FBI was following him --but he could not prove it --during his lifetime.FBI documents de-classified after Steinbeck''s death, proved Steinbeck right--the FBI had been following him for aears- -without any real cause. J.Edgar Hoover''s denials of an investigation of Steinbeck were, at the very least, disingenuous, at worst, an outright lie. This book contains many pages of actual FBI documents.